Examination of the value of documents

The activity of any enterprise is primarily connected with the formation of a huge number of documents, different in content and kind. But not all documentation is valuable. Some can become a source for studying economic, cultural and political life, because they carry valuable information. Other documents have a narrow practical importance. Consequently, the role of all documents can not be considered the same. The main task of the examination is to determine the documentation of historical value and choose it for storage. Value is determined by the information capabilities of documents, due to scientific, historical, economic, social, cultural or political significance.

Examination of the value of documents - the identification of the socio-cultural, scientific and historical value of the document and its practical significance on the basis of principles and criteria of value for selection for storage and fixing of storage terms.

Examination of documents is carried out, as a rule, by a special expert commission established at the enterprise. The commission is created from among more qualified employees by the order of the head of the organization consisting of four or five people. Mandatory members of the commission are the chief accountant, the head of the archive and the head of the documentation department.

In the process of work the commission is based on the principles developed by the practice and the theory of archive business. These are the principles of comprehensiveness, historicism, socio-political neutrality and complexity.

Taking into account these principles, criteria were developed for the examination of the document. Criteria are a set of characteristics that the documentation must match. Currently, there are 3 main groups of criteria for determining the value of data:

1. the origin;

2. content;

3. External features.

The criteria group for the origin of the document includes the following parameters:

1. Significance of the person or institution that created the documentation. The more important its role in the national economy, the system of state administration, science, culture, and other branches, the more valuable will be the data.

2. Place and time of the formation of documents. Important information is recorded, recorded simultaneously with the described event or soon after it. In addition, the information will be more important if it is fixed in the same place where the event occurred.

3. The intensity of documentation. Information will be all the more valuable the fewer publications there are.

Thus, the examination of the value of documents is intended to identify those documents that reflect the history of public life or a particular organization at crucial moments.

The content criteria include the following main parameters:

1. Importance of information. Documents that contain unique information will receive a large evaluation in the examination.

2. Types of documents. In the process of work, preference should be given to documents designed to record the most important aspects of the organization's activities and the life of society.

3. Repeat the information. Information will be all the more valuable, the less often it occurs.

Criteria for external features include:

1. Authenticity of documents. Examination of the value of documents is also necessary to assess the authenticity of information. In the event that a copy is evaluated, it must be properly issued and certified.

2. Legal force of the documentation. Of great importance in the process of record keeping, as already noted, is the correct execution of documentation.

3. The degree of safety of the documentation.

4. Artistic features.

These criteria are considered conditional. Examination of the value of documents may include other criteria, depending on the objectives and specific features of the enterprise.