intellectual form

n.DiplomaticsThe sum of a record's formal attributes that represent and communicate the elements of the action in which the record is involved and of its immediate context, both documentary and administrative.

Citations

Duranti 1998, p. 134 The term physical form refers to the external make-up of the document, while the term intellectual form refers to its internal articulation. Therefore the element of the former are defined by diplomatists as external or extrinsic, while the elements of the latter are defined as internal or intrinsic.