My two cents:  "Recorded information, regardless of medium or
characteristics."

Period.

All those definitions that try to add further clarification are misguided:
The only thing contextual about a given record is whether it is *your*
record (or your responsibility).  But if information is recorded, the result
is *somebody's* record, and should be somebody's responsibility.

Some definitions go a bit too far, too:  For example, ISO's/ARMA's
definition doesn't recognize an individual's records (only an
organization's).  Other definitions are rather existentialist by including
"... and are preserved as evidence of the functions, policies, decisions,
procedures, operations or other activities" of the organization - thus
making it nicely circular:  If it's not preserved, it's by definition not a
record.  (The U.S. Federal gov't avoids this trap by adding "...or
appropriate for preservation...," falling into another by not defining
*what* "appropriate" is).

Just acknowledge that recorded information is a record, then spend your time
identifying what recorded information is whose responsibility and what they
should do with it.

Peter B. Lundell
Millican & Associates, Inc.
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