The Archival Bond

Abstract

This paper presents the concept of archival bond as formulated by archival science and used in a research project carried out at the University of British Columbia, entitled “The Preservation of Electronic Records.” Being one of the essential components of the record, the concept of archival bond is discussed in the context of the traditional diplomatic and archival definitions of records, and its function in demonstrating the reliability and authenticity of records is shown. The most serious challenge with which we are confronted is to make explicit and preserve intact over the long term the archival bond between electronic and non electronic records belonging in the same aggregations.