When records appraised as permanent reach the end of their active life, they don’t simply sit in a basement — they’re transferred to an archives and formally accessioned into its custody. These two related steps move records from the organization that created them to the institution responsible for preserving them.
Transfer vs. accession
- Transfer is the act of moving the records (and legal custody) from the creating organization to the archives.
- Accession is the archives’ act of formally taking custody — recording receipt, accepting legal (and, for physical records, physical) responsibility, and bringing the records under archival control.
In the U.S. federal government, agencies transfer permanent records to NARA, which accessions them and becomes responsible for preserving them and making them available to the public.
What a transfer requires
A clean transfer depends on the records having been well managed all along:
- Confirmed permanent status and that they’re due for transfer per the schedule.
- Adequate metadata describing the records and preserving their context and provenance.
- Acceptable formats — for electronic records, NARA-acceptable preservation formats; analog permanent records generally must be digitized to standard first, since transfers are now electronic by default.
- Validation of completeness and integrity before transfer.
The shift to electronic transfer
Federal transfers of permanent records are now electronic by default — NARA generally no longer accepts analog transfers (per M-23-07). This makes electronic recordkeeping and good metadata essential well before transfer day.
Why it matters
Accessioning is the culmination of the lifecycle for permanently valuable records — the moment an organization’s recordkeeping becomes part of the broader documentary heritage. Records that were poorly managed are difficult or impossible to transfer cleanly, which is why sound capture, scheduling, and metadata pay off years later at transfer. See the vital records, archives and preservation hub for more.
Sources & further reading
Authoritative government and non-profit references.
- Transferring records to the National Archives — National Archives (NARA)
How to cite this page
APA
RM University Editorial Team. (2026). Accessioning and Transfer to an Archives. Records Management University. https://www.recordsmgmt.org/articles/accessioning-and-transfer-to-an-archives/
MLA
RM University Editorial Team. "Accessioning and Transfer to an Archives." Records Management University, 16 June 2026, www.recordsmgmt.org/articles/accessioning-and-transfer-to-an-archives/.