Do No Harm

During processing, the archivist should aim to keep the records they are handling in the same condition as they were received. This means anything that cannot be reversed or undone should not be performed unless documented, discussed, and approved by the appropriate parties. Separating certain formats from the collection, for instance, should typically be avoided since it erases the provenance and the ability for researchers to understand how the collection was created and arranged. Similarly, physical handling and sorting at the item level may result in a loss of context that cannot be restored.