Glossary

Email as a record

An email becomes a record when it documents a decision, approval, advice, commitment, or action. Capture important emails into the approved system; a personal mailbox is not long-term storage.

In practice

An email is a record when it carries evidence you would need later: a decision, approval, advice, commitment, or action. Those emails belong in the approved recordkeeping system; a personal mailbox is not long-term storage and is easily lost when someone leaves.

Frequently asked questions

Are all emails records?

No. An email is a record when it documents a decision, approval, advice, commitment, or action. Routine or trivial messages generally are not, though your organisation's rules apply.

See it in the register

Email as a record, in one connected register.

IAR turns terms like this into working practice: assets classified against your disposal authority, stewarded by position, and ready to evidence.