As discussed, a record is the documentation that provides evidence of a business transaction. It provides proof that the transaction took place. That proof is necessary to document the business of the agency for operational and historical reasons and may be needed as defense in a court of law. Networked information systems and online applications systems must include record keeping functionality if they are to produce trustworthy records. Understanding the business process or function the application is designed to automate will allow you to decide which information within the application constitutes a record and should be captured and maintained within the system. To be valid, the record must contain content, context and structure and must contain enough information to document the transaction in a court of law. These concepts are discussed below.

Content is the substance of a record – the text, data, symbols, numerals, images and sound – that captures sufficient information to provide evidence of a business transaction. Information commonly found in transactional records includes: You may be able to verify the contents of the electronic record by comparing the informational elements of the electronic record to a previously existing hard copy record. Are the informational elements the same? If not, why not?

The structure of the record is defined by the relationships between the informational elements of the record content. Structure is derived from database architecture or the design of the application. Structure also concerns how the records are viewed, under what circumstances are the records viewed and which informational elements are viewed. In some cases the structure of the record may have a specific physical form or design. Examples of structural information found in transactional records include:

The context of the record is derived through the function of the record, information about the application that created the record including system documentation, security procedures, audit trails, disaster recovery, and record metadata⁵. Context will also include information about the entity that created the record and the rules and criteria for using the record. Examples of contextual information include: For another method of identifying records that your system or process produces see the 1999 "Practical Tools for Electronic Records Management and Preservation" by the Center for Technology in Government - University at Albany/SUNY page 10, Records Requirements Elicitation Component.

To summarize, a record is evidence of a business transaction. Defining a transactional record from the data gathered by an application requires analysis and an understanding of the business functions of the creating entity. To be valid, the record must contain content, structure and context and must contain enough information to document the transaction in a court of law.