What is the difference between an archival and a current record?
Current records are those records which are being created and maintained and actively used by each individual agency. Records are kept with each agency until they are no longer actively used by agency staff. For this reason, each agency maintains control over the access to those records which may not be open for public inspection. Archival records are agency records which are deemed to have long-term administrative, legal, historical, or research value. These records are transferred to the Archives, which administers all public access to records in their care. • Why do you include a list of agencies that no longer exist? This list is included here for a number of reasons. First, it provides the information about agencies and departments which preceded Philadelphia’s current governmental organization. Second, as the structure of Philadelphia’s government changes, functions are transferred between agencies, names are changed, some agencies are only temporary in nature, etc. For whatever
