Archive

An archive is a collection of records. The term is also used for the location in which these records are kept.^[1] Archives are made up of records which have been created during the course of an individual or organization's life. In general, an archive consists of records which have been selected for permanent or long-term preservation. Records, which may be in any media, are normally unpublished, unlike books and other publications. Archives may also be generated by large organisations such as corporations and governments. Archives are different from libraries in that archives hold records which are unique. Archives can be described as holding information "by-products" of activities, while libraries hold specifically authored information "products".^[2] The word 'archives' is the correct terminology, whereas 'archive' as a noun or a verb is related to computer science.

A person who works in archives is called an archivist. The study and practice of organizing, preserving, and providing access to information and materials in archives is called archival science.

Archive Media

Shelved record boxes of an archive
The earliest archival manuals: Jacob von Rammingen, Von der Registratur (1571), Baldassarre Bonifacio, De Archivis (1632).
Reading room of the Österreichisches Staatsarchiv (Austrian State Archive), in the Erdberg district of Vienna (2006)
Charles Sturt University Regional Archives
Storage facility at the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
Film Archive of the Cinemateca Nacional de Venezuela.
Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies in May 2013
Illustration of the epistemologic changes of the digital humanities: archives organized with network visualization and analysis. League of Nations archives (UN Geneva).