permanent record
n.
material created or received by a person, family, or organization, public or private, in the conduct of their affairs intended to be preserved because of the enduring value contained in the information they contain or as evidence of the functions and responsibilities of their creator
Notes
Some archivists may distinguish permanent records from archives, the former representing records still in the hands of the records creators before transfer to the archives. In the vernacular, “archives” is often used to refer to any collection of documents that are old or of historical interest, regardless of how they are organized; in this sense, the term is synonymous with permanent records.
