material
n.
The substance of which something is made.
A thing; a resource1, 3.
An object having physical or intellectual substance.
Notes
This glossary uses 'material' as an encompassing, generic term to describe the broad variety of items that an archives might collect, regardless of medium, format, or type. It is used to avoid connotations carried by terms such as record, document, or object. In this sense, materials may be tangible (of matter) or virtual (electronic) and may be used to describe a group of individual items. In the context of digital information, 'material' is roughly synonymous with 'resource'.
