Abstract is: An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of that person or organization. Professional archivists and historians generally understand archives to be records that have been naturally and necessarily generated as a product of regular legal, commercial, administrative, or social activities. They have been metaphorically defined as "the secretions of an organism", and are distinguished from documents that have been consciously written or created to communicate a particular message to posterity. In general, archives consist of records that have been selected for permanent or long-term preservation on grounds of their enduring cultural, historical, or evidentiary value. Archival records are normally unpublished and almost always unique, unlike books or magazines of which many identical copies may exist. This means that archives are quite distinct from libraries with regard to their functions and organization, although archival collections can often be found within library buildings. A person who works in archives is called an archivist. The study and practice of organizing, preserving, and providing access to information and materials in archives is called archival science. The physical place of storage can be referred to as an archive (more usual in the United Kingdom), an archives (more usual in the United States), or a repository. The computing use of the term "archive" should not be confused with the record-keeping meaning of the term.
Abstract is: Inventory (American English) or stock (British English) refers to the goods and materials that a business holds for the ultimate goal of resale, production or utilisation. Inventory management is a discipline primarily about specifying the shape and placement of stocked goods. It is required at different locations within a facility or within many locations of a supply network to precede the regular and planned course of production and stock of materials. The concept of inventory, stock or work in process (or work in progress) has been extended from manufacturing systems to service businesses and projects, by generalizing the definition to be "all work within the process of production - all work that is or has occurred prior to the completion of production". In the context of a manufacturing production system, inventory refers to all work that has occurred – raw materials, partially finished products, finished products prior to sale and departure from the manufacturing system. In the context of services, inventory refers to all work done prior to sale, including partially process information.
Abstract is: An inventory is the one method that libraries and archives use to determine whether some items in their collection are in need of preservation or conservation activities. A modern inventory might involve examining item by item with a barcode scanner and a laptop, with the objective of adjusting bibliographic and item records in theirs and OCLC's WorldCat databases. Using a laptop and handheld bar code reader will "reduce human error and inconsistencies, while helping to maintain staff concentration and enthusiasm for the project". Print materials in the digital age, though dramatically decreased in size compared to e-print materials, are still valuable components of a library's collection. Increasing print material's accessibility, and reducing user frustration, make the inventory process an effective tool in improving library service quality. "When library users are unable to find materials in the expected locations, they lose confidence in the library catalog as well as in the library itself". Missing or mislabeled books have a direct impact on the quality of library services. Maintaining the stacks through inventories and shelf reading can mitigate staff time lost searching for missing or mislabeled items. Libraries have thousands of books; large academic libraries may have millions of books;. Doing an annual (or less frequent) physical inventory with the laying on of hands on each individual item may not be practical for several reasons. It may not be financially feasible, employees required may not have extra time to devote to such an inventory, and there are no financial rewards for the Library for completing an inventory. Problems that are discovered (books in need of repurchase, rebinding, repair, or digitization) may require solutions that are expensive and labor-intensive. Because of these restraints, inventories may not take place for decades, if ever, at large academic institutions. By contrast, complete inventories are often a regular part of the school library media specialist's job at K-12 institutions, where inventory may be a legal requirement that shows that the libraries are accountable for the money they have spent throughout the year. Checking for lost books and materials can be similarly compared to auditing. However, there are alternative options to performing a complete inventory, such as performing a selective inventory. Selective inventory can be performed by circumstance or by data prediction. Physical space is a premium in libraries. Inventorying mini collections before relocating them to their new location presents the library with an opportunity to perform a selective inventory project. An alternative to opportunistic selective inventory projects is Kohl's (1982) assertion that circulation statistics, book search statistics, and ILL statistics can be useful tools in identifying areas as possible selective inventory areas. He writes, "areas in need of an inventory can be identified through the use of predictive data". Once the objectives for accuracy and methods of measuring have been established "the criteria need to be quantified. An overall measure of the inventory accuracy should be maintained as a management key performance indicator".
Abstract is: Stock-taking or "inventory checking" or "wall-to-wall" is the physical verification of the quantities and condition of items held in an inventory or warehouse. This may be done to provide an audit of existing stock. It is also the source of stock discrepancy information. Stock-taking may be performed as an intensive annual, end of fiscal year, procedure or may be done continuously by means of a cycle count. An annual end of fiscal year stock-taking is typically undertaken for use in a company's financial statements. It is often done in the presence of the external auditors who are auditing the financial statements. Periodic counting is usually undertaken for regular, inexpensive items. The term "periodic" may refer to annual stock count. However, "periodic" may also refer to half yearly, seasonal, quarterly, monthly, bi-monthly or daily. For expensive items a shorter period of stock-taking is preferred. A stock-take sale is a sale with reduced prices in a shop designed to sell off stock from previous seasons. This makes the task of stock-taking easier. Another purpose of stock take is determination of a cutoff point i.e. what was the stock position of the company/organization at a specific point of time. However, such stock-taking tasks are often laborious and often lead to significant warehouse operational downtime, ranging from days to weeks.