The goal of records management is for records to be quickly available for future use by those who need to see and use them.

The law defines a record according to three characteristics.

It is documentary material that is-

The process of determining whether an item is or is not a record can be complicated and misunderstood at times.

A personal note or personal communication prepared or received by an employee or officer;
A temporary draft or similar material;
Material that is legally owned by an individual in the individual's private capacity;
Material to which access is limited by the laws of copyright or patent unless the copyright or patent is owned by a governmental entity or political subdivision;
Proprietary software;
Junk mail or a commercial publication;
A book that is cataloged, indexed, or inventoried and contained in the collections of a library open to the public;
Material that is cataloged, indexed, or inventoried and contained in the collections of a library open to the public, regardless of physical form or characteristics of the material;
A daily calendar or other personal note prepared by the originator for the originator's personal use or for the personal use of an individual for whom the originator is working;
A computer program that is developed or purchased by or for any governmental entity for its own use;
A telephone number or similar code used to access a mobile communication device that is used by an employee or officer of a governmental entity, provided that the employee or officer of the governmental entity has designated at least one business telephone number that is a public record as provided in Section 63G-2-301;