<P> An archive is an accumulation of historical records or the physical place they are located . Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization 's lifetime , and are kept to show the function of that person or organization . Professional archivists and historians generally understand archives to be records that have been naturally and necessarily generated as a product of regular legal , commercial , administrative , or social activities . They have been metaphorically defined as `` the secretions of an organism '' , and are distinguished from documents that have been consciously written or created to communicate a particular message to posterity . </P>
<P> An archive is an accumulation of historical records or the physical place they are located . Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization 's lifetime , and are kept to show the function of that person or organization . Professional archivists and historians generally understand archives to be records that have been naturally and necessarily generated as a product of regular legal , commercial , administrative , or social activities . They have been metaphorically defined as `` the secretions of an organism '' , and are distinguished from documents that have been consciously written or created to communicate a particular message to posterity . </P>
accumulations of historical records or the physical place they are located
accumulations of historical records or the physical place they are located
archive
archive