Term: File

A coherent set of documents grouped either by the records creator to meet the needs of current activities or during archival arrangement. They are brought together because they relate to the same subject, activity or legal transaction. It usually constitutes the basic unit of a series.

Physically, a file generally consists of a variable number of records and documents (from a few items to several hundred), contained, depending on size, in a folder (see entry) or in one or more containers. When the documentation reaches a substantial size, or when the matter documented is particularly complex, a file may be subdivided into sub‑files, each of which may in turn be subdivided into inserts.