n.the succession of offices or persons who have held materials from the moment they were createdO’Toole 1994, 634An unbroken chain of custody of records was critical to Jenkinson, who thought their protection from subsequent, outside contamination the most important task the archivist could perform. Precisely because the information in archives was unavailable elsewhere, Jenkinson believed, “the person or persons responsible” for creating them had to maintain them inviolate from other influences “for their own information” and that of “their legitimate successors.” Any archival record might someday be required in legal proceedings, for example, and the preservation of its pristine character, and therefore its validity as evidence, was essential.Carter 2007, 77Archival records, according to Sir Hilary Jenkinson, are almost certainly authentic as long as the chain of custody remains unbroken, that is, as long as they remain under the control of the administrative body that created them, are transferred to a succeeding office, or are given into the care of a “responsible person” (i.e., an archivist).Gilliland 2014a, 185Traditionally, in the life-cycle model, the need for creators to rely upon their own active records, the fixity of those records, a documented unbroken chain of custody from the creators to the archivists, and the description of the archival record within a finding aid are the perquisites of assuring authenticity of preserved records.Lawthe succession of individuals who have held evidence from the moment it is obtained until presented in courtBastian 2001, 109Setting the treaty aside, however, from Denmark’s point of view, the archival fond of the records was in Denmark, and maintenance of the chain of custody for this fond was only possible by depositing the records in the Danish National Archives. Viewed from this nationalistic perspective, Denmark could confidently claim both the legal and the physical right to the records, and place the onus to request copies on the United States.
