Dictionary definition(s) for: file

• n., The aggregation of all the records that participate in the same affair or relate to the same event, person, place, project, or other subject. Syn.: dossier.
  See Also:

  • fonds
  • records series
  • item
• v., To set aside a made or received document among the records that participate in the same action/affair or relate to the same person or subject, so that they may be retrieved for action or reference.
• v., [Defined as FILING] The placing of individual documents within a file.
  [ Archives - Dictionary of Archival Terminology ]
  Dictionary of Archival Terminology. 2nd rev. ed. Edited by Peter Walne. New York: K.G. Saur, 1988.
• n., A collection of data stored in a computer. It may consist of program instructions or numerical, textual, or graphical information. It usually consists of a set of similar or related records.
  [ Sciences - A Dictionary of Physics ]
  A Dictionary of Physics. Ed. John Daintith. Oxford University Press, 2000. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. University of British Columbia. 3 August 2006 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t83.e1117
• n., A collection of documents usually related in some way, stored together, and arranged in a systematic order. In computing, a collection of structured data elements stored as a single entity or a collection of records related by source and/or purpose, stored on a magnetic medium (floppy disk, hard disk, Zip disk, etc.).
  [ Computer and Information Sciences - Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science (ODLIS) ]
  Reitz, Joan M. ODLIS: Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science . Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited, 2004. http://lu.com/odlis/.
• n., A collection of information, referred to by file name; for example, a user-created document, program data, or the program itself.
  [ Computer and Information Sciences - A Dictionary of Computing ]
  A Dictionary of Computing. Oxford University Press, 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. University of British Columbia. 4 August 2006 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t11.e1942
• n., An element of data storage in a file system.
  [ Computer and Information Sciences - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (FOLDOC) ]
  FOLDOC: Free Online Dictionary of Computing. http://foldoc.org/.
• n., An integrated aggregation of records that are related by person, project, or other subject. Syn.: dossier.
  [ Archives - The InterPARES 1 Project Glossary , Page: 360 ]
  Duranti, Luciana, ed. The Long-term Preservation of Authentic Electronic Records: Findings of the InterPARES Project. San Miniato, Italy: Archilab, 2005. Also available online at http://interpares.org/book.
  See Also:

  • dossier
• n., An organized unit (folder, volume, etc.) of documents grouped together either for current use or in the process of archival arrangement.
  [ Archives - Dictionary of Archival Terminology ]
  Dictionary of Archival Terminology. 2nd rev. ed. Edited by Peter Walne. New York: K.G. Saur, 1988.
• v., Arranging and sorting documents so that they may be retrieved rapidly when needed.
  [ General Dictionaries - A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology (The Society of American Archivists) ]
  Pearce-Moses, Richard. A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2005. http://www.archivists.org/glossary/index.asp
• n., In machine-readable records/archives, two or more records of identical layout treated as a unit. The unit is larger than a record but smaller than a data system, and is also known as a data set or file set.
  [ Archives - Dictionary of Archival Terminology ]
  Dictionary of Archival Terminology. 2nd rev. ed. Edited by Peter Walne. New York: K.G. Saur, 1988.
• n., Something that is used to support an understanding or argument.
  [ General Dictionaries - A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology (The Society of American Archivists) ]
  Pearce-Moses, Richard. A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2005. http://www.archivists.org/glossary/index.asp
• n., Where this term is used in isolation, it refers to both electronic files and paper files.
  [ Archives - Model Requirements for the Management of Electronic Records (MoReq) - Glossary , Page: 105 ]
  European Commission. Model Requirements for the Management of Electronic Records: MoReq Specification . Luxembourg : Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2001. http://www.cornwell.co.uk/moreqdocs/moreq.pdf.