records

All recorded information, regardless of media or physical characteristics, made or received and maintained by an organization or institution in pursuance of its legal obligations or in the transaction of its business. In machine-readable records, two or more data fields in predetermined order and treated as a unit. See also document, item.

All books, papers, letters, documents, maps, plans, photographs, sound recordings, management information systems, or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received, and retained by any public office under state law or in connection with the transaction of public business by the offices, agencies, and institutions of the state and its counties, municipalities, and other political subdivisions.

The recordings of evidence of activities performed or results achieved (e.g., forms, reports, test results) which serve as the basis for verifying that the organization and the information system are performing as intended. Also used to refer to units of related data fields (i.e., groups of data fields that can be accessed by a program and that contain the complete set of information on particular items).