When does a document become archived?

Scientific article

doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2025-4-1155-1172

For citation

Surovtseva, Natalia G. (2025). When does a document become archived? Herald of an Archivist, no. 4, pp. 1155-1172, doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2025-4-1155-1172

Surovtseva, Natalia G., All-Russian Research Institute of Documentation and Archival Affairs, Moscow, Russia

When does a document become archived?

Abstract

According to the research plan, VNIIDAD continues to develop Methodological Recommendations for the Rules for the Organization of storage, Acquisition, Accounting and Use of documents from the archival fund of the Russian Federation and other archival documents in government agencies, local governments and organizations (hereinafter referred to as the Rules). This work is not only applied in nature, but also allows for a new understanding of some theoretical approaches to the implementation of traditional archival and record-keeping processes. Special attention should be paid to the process of transferring documents from the office to the archive, which is cross-functional and has its own peculiarities in terms of working with electronic documents. In this regard, the main question raised by the author in the title of the article is related to the definition of the moment when the document becomes archived. For the first time, a rule appeared in the Rules that a document is considered archived from January 1, the year following when the document is completed (executed). The author draws attention to several aspects that do not allow this solution to be considered optimal. Firstly, in the Rules, the legislative norm regarding the beginning of the calculation of the retention period of documents has been transferred to the status of the document, its definition as archival. This contradicts the established practice in record keeping and archiving of dividing responsibility for document storage depending on the place of its storage. In accordance with this rule, the document becomes archived "de jure", not being "de facto". Secondly, the archaic speech phrase "document completed by paperwork" turned out to be updated in the regulatory documents. The author examines the conditions of its appearance and draws attention to the impact of working with documents in the electronic document management system on the transformation of traditional office operations. As a result, the document turns out to be associated with the case number according to the nomenclature of cases from the moment of its inclusion in the system, and not as a result of its execution, i.e. completion of work with it in management. Thirdly, the connection of documents established during registration with the case number according to the nomenclature of cases gives rise to a false definition of almost every case in record management as transitional, since by no means all documents are executed by the end of the year, and the case is completed by record management. All these minor inconsistencies are caused by the transformation of office processes in the context of the use of information technology and do not allow us to effectively ensure the requirements of the Rules when transferring electronic documents to the archive. As a basic solution, the author suggests transferring electronic documents from the EDMS to the storage system in real time, immediately after their execution in the office. This solution will make it possible to fully realize the advantages of information technology over traditional approaches.

Keywords

Archival document, completed document, executed document, transfer case, electronic document, transfer of documents to the archive.

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About authors

Surovtseva, Natalia G., Doctor of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, Russian State University for the Humanities, All-Russian Research Institute of Documentation and Archival Affairs, Department of Documentation, Research Fellow, Professor, Moscow, Russia, 8-916-020- 21-65, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Grant information

The article was prepared within the framework of topic 2.1 "Methodological recommendations for the Rules of organization of storage, accounting and use of documents of the Archival Fund of the Russian Federation and other archival documents in state bodies, local governments and organizations (approved by Rosarchiv Order No. 77 dated 07/31/2023)" of the Plan of research and development work carried out on the basis of a state assignment The Federal Archival Agency for 2025, approved by Rosarchive Order No. 148 dated 12/13/2024.

The article was received in the editorial office on 27.01.2025, recommended for publication on 20.06.2025.