Reimagining the Commonwealth Record Series System

Abstract

In the 1960s, Peter Scott proposed a new way of controlling records at the National Archives of Australia that became known as the Commonwealth Record Series (CRS) system. Acknowledging the ever-changing nature of governments, the CRS focused on the Series as the central entity for controlling records allowing connection to multiple Agents (creators/controllers). What constitutes a record though has always been open for discussion and has become potentially more ephemeral in the digital realm. This paper looks at recent work undertaken at the National Archives to reimagine the underlying data model of the CRS system to allow for more flexibility in capturing digital records.