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Records continuum model

The Records continuum model (RCM) is an abstract conceptual framework in archival and recordkeeping theory that conceptualizes records as dynamic, multidimensional entities continuously shaped by social and organizational processes across time and space, rather than as fixed objects progressing through discrete stages in a linear lifecycle. Developed in the 1990s at Monash University in Australia by Frank Upward, with contributions from Sue McKemmish, Barbara Reed, and others, the model emerged as a response to the challenges of managing electronic and distributed records in post-custodial environments, where physical custody is de-emphasized in favor of logical and virtual control.^[1] The model's structure comprises four interconnected dimensions—Create (forming records in immediate transactional contexts), Capture (integrating them into organizational memory), Organise (embedding them in post-custodial collective memory), and Pluralise (disseminating them into pluralized social and cultural memory)—intersected by four axes: transactionality (from acts to societal purposes), recordkeeping entities (from documents to archives), evidentiality (from traces to collective memory), and identity (from individual actors to institutional frameworks). These elements underscore the recursive and simultaneous nature of recordkeeping, where records are perpetually "becoming" through ongoing actions that meet diverse stakeholder needs.^[2] This approach rejects the separation of current records management from archival preservation, instead promoting integrated systems that support evidence formation, memory building, and accessibility in complex, networked settings. Influenced by Anthony Giddens' structuration theory, postmodern critiques of archival practice, and earlier post-custodial ideas from scholars like Terry Cook, the RCM represents a paradigm shift toward viewing recordkeeping as an embedded societal process rather than a custodial endpoint. In contemporary applications, it remains highly relevant for digital recordkeeping, informing standards for stakeholder co-creation of records and bridging gaps between records professionals in multicultural and technological contexts, though it sometimes faces misinterpretation as overly linear when adapted to lifecycle frameworks.^[1]

Overview

Definition

The records continuum model is an abstract, multidimensional conceptual model that frames recordkeeping as ongoing interactions among records, people, processes, and systems across multiple contexts over space and time.^[3] It emerged in the 1990s in Australia as a response to challenges in managing digital records.^[1] At its core, the model integrates records creation, capture, organization, and use into a non-linear, dynamic framework that treats records as social and evidential constructs essential for accountability, transparency, and collective memory.^[3] Unlike sequential models, it emphasizes simultaneous actions and pluralized access to records by diverse stakeholders, fostering their ongoing usability and evidential value without a fixed endpoint.^[4] Visually, the model is depicted as a two-dimensional diagram with four quadrants representing its primary dimensions, highlighting the interconnected and recursive nature of recordkeeping activities.^[1] This representation underscores a paradigm shift from traditional custodial approaches—where records are sequentially passed from creators to managers to archivists—to post-custodial thinking, which promotes distributed responsibility and continuous engagement with records in electronic and hybrid environments.^[5]

Historical Development

The Records continuum model emerged in the early 1990s at Monash University in Australia, developed by archival scholars including Frank Upward, Sue McKemmish, and Livia Iacovino as part of the Records Continuum Research Group (RCRG), which served as a hub for advancing recordkeeping theory in response to the limitations of traditional records lifecycle approaches.^[6]^[7]^[1] Initial conceptualization occurred through collaborative efforts at Monash, leading to the model's formal publication in 1996 in Upward's seminal paper, "Structuring the Records Continuum, Part One: Post-custodial Principles and Properties," which outlined the model's post-custodial framework and multidimensional structure.^[8] Refinement continued in subsequent works, including Part Two in 1997, which integrated structuration theory to emphasize recordkeeping as an ongoing social process,^[9] and Upward's 2000 reflection, "Modelling the Continuum as Paradigm Shift in Recordkeeping and Archiving Processes, and Beyond," which positioned the model as a transformative paradigm for integrating records management and archival practices.^[10] The model gained traction in Australian records management standards, notably influencing AS 4390-1996, which defined the records continuum as a consistent regime of management processes from creation through use and preservation, thereby embedding continuum principles into national guidelines. This Australian framework contributed to the development of the international ISO 15489 standard in 2001, which adopted continuum-inspired concepts for records creation, capture, and management across formats.^[11] By the 2000s, the model achieved global recognition, becoming a core component in archival education curricula worldwide, including at institutions beyond Australia, to address integrated recordkeeping in diverse contexts.^[1] Post-2000, the model evolved to accommodate born-digital records, emphasizing logical rather than physical entities to handle electronic creation, access, and preservation without discrete lifecycle stages.^[12] Adaptations extended to web archiving projects, where continuum principles supported participatory and dynamic approaches to capturing online social and organizational activities, as seen in initiatives integrating digital technologies for ongoing recordkeeping in networked environments.^[13] Recent developments as of 2024–2025 have further applied the model to challenges in AI-driven digital environments and enhanced understandings of provenance within continuum frameworks.^[14]^[15]

Theoretical Foundations

Key Contributors

Frank Upward, an academic at Monash University, is recognized as the primary developer of the Records Continuum Model, introducing its foundational concepts in his 1996 paper "Structuring the Records Continuum, Part One: Post-custodial Principles and Properties," published in Archives and Manuscripts.^[8] He further elaborated on the model's theoretical framework in the chapter "The Records Continuum" within the edited volume Archives: Recordkeeping in Society (2005), emphasizing its role in modeling recordkeeping processes across societal dimensions. Upward's work focused on shifting archival theory from lifecycle to continuum perspectives, influencing standards like the Australian Standard for Records Management (AS 4390).^[16] Sue McKemmish, a colleague of Upward at Monash University, contributed significantly to the model's evidential paradigms, co-authoring key texts that integrated records as evidence within continuum thinking.^[6] Her chapter "Placing Records Continuum Theory and Practice" in Archival Science (2001) provided an overview of the model's evolution and practical implications, building on collaborative research at Monash. McKemmish also co-edited Archives: Recordkeeping in Society (2005), where she advanced discussions on records' ongoing societal roles.^[17] Glenda Acland played an early role in disseminating continuum ideas through seminars and collaborative projects, including the development of the Australian Recordkeeping Metadata Schema (RKMS).^[18] As a research associate with Monash's Records Continuum Research Group, she co-authored the 2000 article "Describing Records in Context in the Continuum: The Australian Recordkeeping Metadata Schema" in Archivaria, which applied continuum principles to metadata standards for recordkeeping.^[19] Barbara Reed advanced the model's pluralisation concepts, exploring how records multiply across contexts in her 2005 article "Reading the Records Continuum" in Archives and Manuscripts.^[20] Reed's contributions emphasized interpretive flexibility in continuum theory, and she co-edited Archives: Recordkeeping in Society (2005), promoting its application in education and practice.^[17] Michael Piggott focused on educational applications of the model, integrating it into archival curricula and historical analyses.^[21] He co-edited The Records Continuum: Ian Maclean and Australian Archives' First Fifty Years (1996) and Archives: Recordkeeping in Society (2005), using the continuum to frame the evolution of Australian recordkeeping education.^[22] The development of the Records Continuum Model was centered at Monash University's Recordkeeping Research Group, formed in the early 1990s by Upward and McKemmish as a collaborative hub for theoretical and applied research.^[6] This group, later evolving into the Records Continuum Research Group, facilitated international collaborations; subsequent influences emerged from the University of Melbourne and global scholars building on its foundations.^[6]

Philosophical Influences

The Records Continuum Model draws significantly from postmodern archival theory, which challenges the notion of records as stable, fixed artifacts with inherent meaning. Influenced by Jacques Derrida's concept of deconstruction, particularly as articulated in Archive Fever, the model rejects the idea of archives as neutral repositories of unchanging truth, instead viewing records as fluid, context-dependent entities shaped by ongoing interpretation and power dynamics. This perspective underscores the continuum's emphasis on records' multiplicity and mutability across time and space, enabling a more dynamic understanding of evidence and memory in recordkeeping processes.^[23] Structuration theory, developed by Anthony Giddens, provides a foundational sociological framework for the model, portraying records as integral to the interplay between social structures and human agency. Giddens' The Constitution of Society posits that structures are both the medium and outcome of social practices, a duality mirrored in the continuum's depiction of recordkeeping as continuous societal activity rather than discrete phases.^[9] This influence highlights records' role in enabling accountability, transparency, and collective memory, positioning them as "memory traces" that facilitate the reproduction and transformation of social systems over spacetime. The post-custodial paradigm further shapes the model's theoretical underpinnings, advocating a shift from centralized custody and linear lifecycle management to distributed, ongoing responsibility for records' accessibility and integrity. Emerging in response to digital challenges, this approach integrates principles of logical control over physical possession, fostering collaborative stewardship across creating entities and users.^[8] It aligns with broader information science ideas, such as those exploring information as a continuum of processes and entities, emphasizing adaptive recordkeeping in networked environments.^[24] In the Australian context, the model integrates functional analysis from records management practices, particularly through the DIRKS (Designing and Implementing Recordkeeping Systems) methodology, which operationalizes continuum thinking by aligning recordkeeping with organizational functions and business processes. Developed by the State Records Authority of New South Wales, DIRKS promotes a holistic, function-based approach that embeds recordkeeping within ongoing activities, reinforcing the model's rejection of traditional archival silos in favor of integrated, proactive systems.^[25] This synthesis reflects Australia's emphasis on practical innovation in response to electronic records' complexities.^[26]

Model Components

Four Dimensions

The Records continuum model conceptualizes recordkeeping as a dynamic, multidimensional process through four interconnected dimensions: Create, Capture, Organise, and Pluralise. These dimensions represent simultaneous activities that occur across immediate, institutional, societal, and pluralized contexts, emphasizing the ongoing creation, management, and reuse of records rather than a linear progression. Developed by Frank Upward with contributions from Sue McKemmish and others, the model views records as evolving entities embedded in social and technological environments, where processes in each dimension influence and reinforce one another.^[8] The first dimension, Create (or Co-Create), focuses on the initial instantiation of records through transactions, actions, and documentation within immediate contexts of activity. This dimension highlights how records emerge from collaborative processes involving multiple actors, such as individuals or organizations, producing traces of events like contracts or communications that serve evidentiary purposes from the outset.^[27] For instance, a wedding photograph is co-created by participants and photographers, capturing the event while anticipating future uses.^[27] In this phase, records are not static artifacts but dynamic products shaped by the transactionality and identity of the creators.^[8] The second dimension, Capture, involves embedding records into formal systems for accountability and organizational memory. Here, records are registered, classified, and augmented with metadata to ensure their reliability and accessibility within institutional frameworks, transforming raw traces into managed entities. This process includes actions like filing documents in databases or albums, where decisions about retention and description reflect organizational needs and legal requirements.^[27] Capture ensures that records maintain evidential value while supporting ongoing business functions.^[8] The third dimension, Organise, entails categorizing and structuring records to facilitate access, preservation, and use across time and space. Records are arranged into archives or systems that build corporate or collective memory, involving classification schemes, metadata standards, and retrieval mechanisms that adapt to evolving contexts. For example, family photographs might be organized in a personal archive for efficient retrieval, balancing immediate utility with long-term integrity.^[27] This dimension emphasizes the record's role in sustaining identity and evidentiality within bounded environments.^[8] The fourth dimension, Pluralise, addresses the dissemination, reuse, and transformation of records in multiple societal contexts beyond their originating environment. Records become part of broader cultural, historical, or collective narratives, enabling analysis and repurposing by diverse stakeholders over extended periods.^[27] This involves sharing artifacts like photographs across networks or archives, where they accrue new meanings and support pluralized memories.^[27] Pluralisation underscores the model's post-custodial ethos, where records transcend single ownership to serve multifaceted purposes.^[8] Unlike sequential models, the four dimensions operate simultaneously and interdependently, with records existing and evolving in all dimensions at once; for example, creation anticipates pluralisation, while organisation supports capture across axes of interconnectivity. This recursive nature allows recordkeeping processes to adapt fluidly to changing technological and social landscapes, ensuring records' ongoing relevance and authenticity.^[27]

Axes and Interconnectivity

The Records Continuum Model features four interconnected axes that link its core dimensions, facilitating the continuous flow of records through creation, capture, organization, and pluralization. These axes are transactionality, which encompasses the business activities and functions that generate records as byproducts of organizational or social actions from immediate acts to broader societal purposes; recordkeeping, which involves the entities or containers (such as documents, files, or archives) designed to hold and manage records over time; evidentiality, which pertains to the capacity of records to serve as proof or evidence of those actions and decisions from traces to collective memory; and identity, which addresses the agents and contexts of record creation and keeping from individual actors to institutional or collective frameworks.^[28] These axes provide the structural interconnectivity within the model, enabling records to transition fluidly across the four dimensions without adhering to discrete, linear phases typical of traditional lifecycle approaches. Instead, the model emphasizes a dynamic continuum where recordkeeping activities occur simultaneously in multiple dimensions, influenced by ongoing interactions along the axes; for instance, a record's evidential value can evolve in real-time as it scales through identity contexts, while recordkeeping entities maintain its integrity across transactional origins. This interconnectivity underscores the absence of fixed boundaries, allowing records to embody multiple roles—such as evidence, artifact, and memory—concurrently within a spacetime framework that accounts for temporal and spatial simultaneity.^[29] Visually, the model is represented as a diagram where the axes intersect to form quadrants corresponding to the dimensions: transactionality and recordkeeping axes typically align horizontally to delineate creation and capture, while evidentiality and identity axes align vertically to outline organization and pluralization, creating an integrated, non-hierarchical space that illustrates the model's holistic nature.^[30] The dynamics of the model highlight how alterations in one dimension propagate across others via the axes, often instantaneously in contemporary environments; for example, digital pluralization enables a record's traces to disseminate and contextualize across evidential and identity scales in real-time, amplifying its transactional origins through networked recordkeeping systems without sequential delays.^[31]

Comparisons

Records Lifecycle Model

The records lifecycle model conceptualizes the existence of records as a linear progression through distinct, sequential stages, typically including creation or receipt, active use, semi-active or inactive storage, archival preservation, and final disposition or destruction.^[32] This framework assumes that records evolve in value over time, with primary value (for the creating agency's operational needs) diminishing as secondary value (for historical, legal, or research purposes) may emerge, necessitating different management responsibilities at each phase.^[33] The model originated in the United States during the 1930s as a response to the increasing volume of federal records during the New Deal era, with early formalization by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).^[32] It gained prominence in the 1950s and 1960s through influential works, such as Theodore R. Schellenberg's Modern Archives: Principles and Techniques (1956), which emphasized appraisal and disposition within this structured process, and became the dominant paradigm for records management in the pre-digital era when physical records predominated.^[34] In contrast to the records continuum model, the lifecycle approach is inherently linear and stage-based, enforcing a unidirectional flow where records transition from current operational use to archival custody, whereas the continuum model operates multidimensionally with simultaneous processes across four dimensions of creation, capture, organizing, and pluralizing.^[35] It embodies a custodial philosophy, positioning archivists as the final keepers responsible for preservation after records leave the creator's control, in opposition to the post-custodial continuum perspective that distributes ongoing shared responsibility among creators, users, and stewards throughout a record's existence.^[1] Additionally, the lifecycle model rigidly separates records management (focusing on active and semi-active phases) from archival functions (limited to preservation and access), while the continuum integrates these across all stages without fixed boundaries.^[36]

Other Continuum Models

The Information Continuum Model, developed by Frank Upward, Barbara Reed, and Don Schauder in the late 1990s, offers a parallel framework to the records continuum that conceptualizes information as a continuous flow across creation, management, use, and pluralization dimensions, without rigid distinctions between records and other informational entities.^[37] This model emphasizes information practices in knowledge spaces, enabling analysis of how data evolves into knowledge and wisdom in organizational and societal settings, influenced by foundational ideas in information science such as Michael Buckland's broad definition of information-as-thing.^[38]^[39] By focusing on the seamless integration of information management, it broadens the continuum approach beyond formal records to encompass everyday informational artifacts and processes.^[29] The DIRKS (Designing and Implementing Recordkeeping Systems) methodology, introduced by the National Archives of Australia in the early 2000s, operationalizes continuum principles through an eight-step process that aligns recordkeeping with business functions from analysis to implementation and review.^[40] It extends the continuum by prioritizing functional requirements analysis to embed recordkeeping into organizational workflows, ensuring records capture evidence of actions in real-time rather than post-creation.^[41] Unlike the more abstract records continuum, DIRKS serves as a practical tool for system design, promoting accountability and efficiency in public sector environments.^[42] Variants of continuum thinking include the Records in Contexts conceptual model (RiC-CM), developed by the International Council on Archives since 2016 and finalized as version 1.0 in November 2023, which adapts continuum interconnectivity to describe records' relationships across entity classes like creators, records, and descriptive systems, emphasizing contextual interoperability in archival description.^[43] Barbara Reed's contributions to continuum theory have informed such contextual extensions, highlighting how records maintain evidential value through layered societal and institutional contexts.^[44] Additionally, the societal embeddedness extension, proposed by Viviane Frings-Hessami in 2020, refines the pluralization dimension of the records continuum to address how records are intertwined with cultural norms and power structures, particularly for indigenous and multicultural heritage materials.^[27] This approach illustrates records' ongoing societal integration, adapting continuum principles to non-Western archival traditions.^[1] These models adapt core continuum ideas of multidimensionality and interconnectivity but diverge in emphasis: the information continuum prioritizes theoretical information flows over record specificity, DIRKS adopts a procedural lens for implementation, and variants like RiC-CM and societal embeddedness expand contextual scopes for archival and cultural applications.^[45]

Applications and Criticisms

Practical Applications

In records management, the Records Continuum Model informs the design of systems that enable simultaneous capture and pluralisation of records, particularly within enterprise content management (ECM) frameworks. By integrating the model's four dimensions—create, capture, organise, and pluralise—practitioners develop holistic strategies for managing digital information from inception through long-term preservation, addressing challenges like system integration and policy gaps in organizations. For instance, case studies from Swedish municipalities highlight challenges in applying ECM combined with the continuum model, such as limited collaboration between records managers and IT staff, underscoring the need for better integration to ensure records serve multiple evidential and functional purposes across their lifecycle.^[46] In archival practice, the model supports participatory archiving initiatives, where communities actively co-create and shape records rather than passively contributing to custodial collections. This approach aligns with the continuum's emphasis on ongoing transactionality and identity, fostering inclusive processes that empower marginalized groups, such as Indigenous communities, to maintain agency over their records. Examples include the Monash Country Lines Archive project, which uses multimedia technologies like 3D animations to capture Indigenous storytelling in a living online archive, enabling pluralisation for diverse societal uses. Similarly, the "Who Am I?" project engages out-of-home care survivors in constructing identity through participatory recordkeeping, highlighting the model's role in addressing historical disenfranchisement.^[23]^[47] The model also guides web archiving efforts, particularly in projects like the Australian Web Archive, which apply dimension 4 (pluralise) to capture and disseminate born-digital content for multiple audiences and purposes, ensuring contextual richness in online environments. In digital implications, the continuum model facilitates handling born-digital records through co-creation and continuous organization, emphasizing metadata standards and format migration to preserve evidential value over time. This is reflected in ISO 15489-1, the international standard for records management, which adopts the continuum as a foundational framework to manage complex relationships in electronic records, supporting scalable descriptions and access for web-based and networked content.^[28]^[48] Educationally, the Records Continuum Model serves as a key teaching tool in curricula for integrated recordkeeping, helping students grasp the multidimensional nature of records from creation to societal reuse. Developed initially as a pedagogical device, it uses relatable examples, such as analyzing a wedding photograph's metadata across dimensions, to illustrate concepts like pluralisation in diverse cultural contexts, as applied in courses at institutions like Monash University and in the UAE. This approach enhances understanding of evidence-based practices, preparing professionals for dynamic digital recordkeeping environments.^[27] In AI-assisted or AI-mediated recordkeeping, the Records Continuum Model supports the inclusion of not only final outputs but also prompts, model/version information, and provenance metadata in records to ensure evidentiality as materials are captured, organized, and pluralized across contexts. Persistent identifiers (PIDs) such as DOIs and ORCID iDs complement conventional metadata standards by stabilizing provenance links across versions and platforms, thereby enhancing transparency and accountability within the model's four dimensions.^[49]^[15]^[50]

Criticisms and Developments

One major criticism of the Records Continuum Model (RCM) is its highly abstract and multidimensional nature, which challenges traditional linear views of records as fixed end-products and instead portrays them as dynamically "becoming" across spacetime, making it difficult for practitioners to operationalize in everyday recordkeeping tasks.^[23] This abstraction has led to limited evidence of systemic transformations in archival practices despite numerous theoretical projects, as entrenched paradigms hinder ground-up reconceptualization.^[23] Furthermore, the model is seen as overemphasizing theoretical constructs over concrete tools and methodologies, with critics arguing it inadequately addresses the practical needs of managing non-public or secret records, where pluralization may not occur, prompting proposals for supplementary frameworks like a "shadow continuum."^[51] In digital environments, the RCM faces challenges in measuring evidentiality, as born-digital records often suffer from inadequate metadata, poor contextualization, and fragmented systems across multiple platforms, complicating the maintenance of integrity and continuity required for evidential value. For instance, in Scandinavian contexts, automation and diverse digital formats have led to inconsistent registration and interoperability issues, deviating from the model's emphasis on seamless continuum processes and underscoring the need for robust infrastructure.^[52] Post-2010 developments have integrated critical theory into the RCM, incorporating participatory and decolonial approaches to address power imbalances and social constructs in recordkeeping, particularly in contexts like childhood out-of-home care and Indigenous collections, where the model supports holistic, emancipatory practices across spacetime. A key update relabels the first dimension from "Create" to "Co-Create" to better reflect multiple agencies and rights in collaborative environments, such as social media, where user-generated content demands shared record formation.^[23] Evolving extensions, like mediated recordkeeping and person-centered models, further adapt the framework to emphasize transformative, justice-oriented practices.^[23] Future directions involve integrating the RCM with AI and big data to automate pluralization processes, enhancing metadata management and accessibility while preserving contextual evidentiality in vast digital ecosystems, as explored through the model's holistic lens in archival AI applications.^[53] Global adaptations in non-Western contexts, such as decolonization efforts in Southeast Asia and cultural embeddedness in diverse societies, demonstrate the model's flexibility in analyzing provenance and societal influences beyond Eurocentric norms.^[27] Responses to critiques include empirical validations, such as testing the RCM to map user-generated cultural heritage on platforms like YouTube, confirming its utility in capturing dynamic, emergent digital records without requiring full pluralization.^[54] These studies counter abstraction concerns by showing practical applicability in real-world digital preservation, bridging theory and implementation gaps.^[55]

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[49]
Testing the continuum: User-generated cultural heritage on YouTube
For those acquainted with the Records Continuum model,2 the model presented below (figure 1) will be somewhat familiar. The four rings represent the four ...
[50]
Archives and AI: An Overview of Current Debates and Future Directions
arXiv preprint discussing AI in archival processes through the Records Continuum model, including explainable AI for recordkeeping.
[51]
Why Traditional Records Management Models Are Failing in the Digital Age
AIIM blog post from September 2025 on the Records Continuum Model as a solution for digital recordkeeping challenges, including AI contexts.
[52]
The science of recordkeeping systems - a realist perspective
2024 thesis exploring records continuum model and possibilities offered by artificial intelligence in recordkeeping.