adj.Of or pertaining to archives.Having enduring value; permanent.Durable; lacking inherent vice; long-lived; see archival quality.Puglia, Reed, and Rhodes 2004, 61The term "archival" indicates the materials used to manufacture the CD-R (usually the dye layer where the data is recording, a protective gold layer to prevent pollutants from attacking the dye, or a physically durable top-coat to protect the surface of the disk) are reasonably stable and have good durability, but this will not guarantee the longevity of the media itself.Not causing degradation.Following accepted standards that ensure maximum longevity.ComputingInformation of long-term value that, because of its low use, is stored on offline media and must be reloaded, or that is in a form that must be reconstructed before use.Sedona Conference 2014, 308Archival Data: Information an organization maintains for long-term storage and record keeping purposes but which is not immediately accessible to the user of a computer system. Archival data may be written to removable media such as a CD, magneto-optical media, tape or other electronic storage device, or may be maintained on system hard drives. Some systems allow users to retrieve archival data directly while other systems require the intervention of an IT professional.
Notes
The use of archival2 to denote records whose content has been appraised as having enduring value is fairly standard. Some archivists prefer the phrase 'enduring value' to 'permanent' when describing archival records, but permanence remains part of the vernacular understanding of the term.
