Recordkeeping Through the Ages

Recordkeeping and Ancient Civilizations

• The earliest records of human life are drawings found on cave walls, with an example being a depiction of three warty pigs hunted for food at least 45,500 years ago in the limestone cave of Leang Tedongnge on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
• By 4000 BCE, tokens were used as an accounting method to record animals, with wedge-like shapes engraved into clay to represent quantity and a sign to indicate the type of animal.
• The cuneiform writing system was created by the Sumerians, and by 3200 BCE, hieroglyphics were developed in Egypt for commercial and religious purposes to document land holdings, crop yields, and taxes.
• Early writing tablets, like the one pictured in Figure 1.1, had tangible and mobile properties, approximately the size of today's cell phone, and recorded the allocation of beer during the Late Prehistoric period, 3100-3000 BCE.

Recordkeeping Development

• The Royal Archives of Ebla contained an estimated 20,000 clay tablets written in Sumerian script from approximately 2250 BCE, providing a glimpse into the everyday lives of citizens.
• Scrolls made of papyrus plant were used as a recording medium in Egypt from approximately 3000 BCE, and became a standard in Greece and Rome until circa 170 BCE.
• Parchment was produced from thin sheets of sheepskin or goatskin in response to Egypt cutting off papyrus supply to Pergamum, an ancient Greek city.
• Papermaking was developed in China in the second century CE, replacing papyrus in Europe by the ninth century.

Advancements in Recordkeeping Technologies

• Johann Gutenberg perfected moveable type and printed the Gutenberg Bible in 1456, igniting a revolution in mass communication.
• Positions were created to manage records, such as the Lord Clerk Register in Scotland and the Town Clerk of the City of London.
• Best practices were documented, including Jacob von Rammingen's manuals of registry and archival management (1571) and Jean Mabillon's De Re Diplomatica (1681).
• New technology was invented, including the first known patent for a machine or method for impressing or transcribing letters in 1714, and the manual typewriter invented by Christopher Latham Sholes in 1867.

Development of Repositories and Archives

• The General Register House in Edinburgh was designed by Robert Adam in 1772 as a repository for public records of Scotland.
• Numerous national archives were established in the 19th century, including those in the Netherlands, Portugal, Argentina, Italy, Spain, Canada, France, India, Ireland, and the Philippines.
• State archives and historical societies were established in the United States, including those in New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Maryland, Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado.
• The 1890 US Census used punched cards for computation, and the filing cabinet was invented in 1893 to organize and store paperwork.

Modern Recordkeeping and Archives

• The early 20th century saw the establishment of additional state and national archives, along with laws and regulations to protect official records.
• Examples include the State Library of Western Australia, the Archives of Ontario, Canada, and the British Royal Archives in Windsor Castle.
• Corporate archives and history programs were established, such as the AT&T Archives and History Center, to serve business and scholarly needs.

Recordkeeping in Ancient Civilizations

• The earliest records of human life were found on cave walls, with one depiction of three warty pigs hunted for food at least 45,500 years ago in the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
• By 4000 BCE, tokens were used as an accounting method to record animals, with wedge-like shapes engraved into the clay to represent quantity followed by a sign that indicated the type of animal.
• By 3200 BCE, hieroglyphics were developed in Egypt for commercial and religious purposes to document land holdings, crop yields, and taxes.

Early Writing and Recordkeeping Mediums

• The early writing tablet, approximately the size of today's cell phone, records the allocation of beer during the Late Prehistoric period, 3100-3000 BC.
• The Royal Archives of Ebla contained an estimated 20,000 clay tablets written in Sumerian script that dated from approximately 2250 BCE.
• Scrolls made of the papyrus plant were used as a recording medium from approximately 3000 BCE in Egypt.
• Papyrus became a standard in Greece and Rome until circa 170 BCE when Egypt cut off its supply to Pergamum, leading to the development of parchment.

Recordkeeping: First Millennium through the Early Twentieth Century

• The second century CE brought the development of a papermaking process in China, which replaced papyrus in Europe by the ninth century.
• Paper was not used as a practical medium until Johann Gutenberg perfected moveable type and printed the Gutenberg Bible in 1456.
• Positions were created to manage records, such as the appointment of the Lord Clerk Register in Scotland and the Town Clerk of the City of London.
• Best practices were documented to assist recordkeepers, with notable contributors including Jacob von Rammingen and Jean Mabillon.

New Technologies and Repositories

• In 1714, Queen Anne of England granted the first known patent for a machine or method for impressing or transcribing letters.
• In 1772, the General Register House in Edinburgh was designed by Robert Adam to serve as a repository for the public records of Scotland.
• Numerous national archives were established during the 19th century, including those in the Netherlands, Portugal, Argentina, Italy, Spain, Canada, France, India, Ireland, and the Philippines.
• The manual typewriter was invented by Christopher Latham Sholes and marketed commercially in 1874.
• Herman Hollerith used punched cards for computation, leading to the development of International Business Machines (IBM).
• The filing cabinet was invented in 1893 at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Twentieth-Century Developments

• The early twentieth century ushered in additional state and national archives, along with the first of many laws and regulations to protect official records.
• Notable archives include the State Library of Western Australia, the Archives of Ontario, Canada, the British Royal Archives, and the AT&T Archives and History Center.

Recordkeeping in the United States in the Twentieth Century

• In 1934, Congress established the National Archives to centralize federal recordkeeping, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation creating the National Archives.
• Robert D.W. Connor was appointed as the first Archivist of the United States.
• In 1935, Emmett Leahy joined the National Archives and formed a committee to analyze records and decide whether to destroy or dispose of them.
• By 1937, the committee realized the enormity of the records problem due to lack of conformity in procedures, growth in document volume, and duplicate records across agencies.
• The National Archives initiated a records management program to segregate temporary and archival records, with a records lifecycle model developed by Leahy.

Records Management Development

• The Records Disposal Act of 1943 defined records and authorized the National Archives Council to develop procedures for disposing of unneeded records and reproducing permanent records on microfilm.
• The Act was amended in 1945 to include the government-wide General Schedule (GS), allowing for systematic disposal of government records.
• In 1950, the Federal Records Act codified records management policies and practices, establishing the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to preserve records of permanent historical value.

Commercial Records Center (CRC) Industry

• Emmett Leahy played a central role in the emergence of the CRC industry, becoming the first executive director of the National Records Management Council in 1948.
• He formed the Business Archives Center, perhaps the first CRC in the U.S.
• By the 1950s and 1960s, CRCs emerged in large metropolitan areas to store inactive records for large corporations and organizations.

Presidential Recordkeeping

• In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had a recording machine installed in the Oval Office to record conversations.
• Presidents Truman and Eisenhower also recorded conversations, while President John F. Kennedy installed a secret recording network to protect himself against officials.
• President Richard M. Nixon employed a secret recording system, which was discovered in 1973 during the Watergate scandal.
• The Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978 established public ownership of records generated by subsequent presidents and their staffs.

Electronic Records and Litigation

• In 1987, Lt. Col. Oliver North testified about his role in the Iran-Contra affair, including destroying copies of "PROFS notes" (early versions of e-mail records).
• The "PROFS case" resulted in courts finding that electronic versions of e-mail records contained metadata not captured in paper records.
• In 1994, White House email was archived in electronic form, and in 1995, NARA issued electronic mail regulations applicable to all Executive branch agencies.
• In 2021, it was revealed that President Donald Trump had taken over 30 boxes of classified and unclassified presidential records to his residence, in contravention of the Presidential Records Act.
• In 2023, President Biden's personal lawyers found documents with classified markings in his possession, leading to an investigation and Special Counsel appointment.

Explore the evolution of recordkeeping practices from prehistoric times to the present day, highlighting the importance of documentation in human civilization.