19.The structure of archives in relation to their functions

We call the relationships between the documents, which an archive consists of, the external structure of the archive. The archive has the function of documenting work processes. That function is realised optimally if the logical, functional structure of the archive is an adequate representation of the structure of those work processes. Anyone going to carry out a task wants to have information quickly to hand, in order to carry out that task efficiently and effectively. The employee who has to supply the commodity or the service needs product information about a specific product; the official who carries out an inspection task needs process information about a specific production process; whoever manages people, money or rights needs the evidence of a concrete agreement; and whoever carries the final responsibility needs information about the performance of the tasks of the organisation as a whole. The more the structure of the archive and the aggregated records is a representation of their functions, the better and faster the information requested will be retrieved from it. The structure of an archive has a physical as well as a logical, functional dimension. The physical structure of the archive is the physical order of its components. This order can be a representation of its functions. Insurance papers and mortgage deeds lie in the topmost drawer of the desk, salary slips are in chronological order in a file and the driving licence is kept in the wallet. The physical structure can also be defined by logistical requirements. Share certificates lie in the safe, old school reports in a box in the attic, and data files are stored on the hard disk of the PC. The logical structure or arrangement of records in archives (which are usually grouped into series, then files within series, then documents within files) is a reflection, or a representation of the logical, functional relationships between the records of which these archives consist. The logical structure can be the same as the physical structure: all records that document the same work process can be kept on the same shelf in the same cupboard. But generally, this is not the case: what is physically separated may logically fit well together and vice versa. With digital data files the logical structure (for example the directory structure) is usually not the same as the physical structure (the place of the data on the carrier). On its own it is not necessarily problematic that the physical structure is different from the logical structure. One can represent records according to their function and their mutual logical relations while referring to the physical place in which these records can be found, wherever that may be. Such a representation, which makes the archive accessible and that consists of recorded information about information, is called a finding aid. Finding aids are, certainly if they are created in electronic form, much more flexible than the physical structure of the archive. They can be modified to accommodate all changes in work processes.