When retaining your record, you would appraise the record and give it a value –

• Primary value – these would be the records that are active in nature and are needed for the current operations. The records are used for administrative and accounting purposes, to ensure logical, responsible and consistent actions, for the protection of the legal and financial rights and obligations of the body or origin and to ensure proper control of   These records illustrate whether and how an organisation was able to fulfil its functions and the degree of success.
• Secondary value – these records are semi-active or inactive and may have a historical or archival importance to the company. It is the long term practical and cultural value records have for the public and researchers at large.
• The practical value lies in the use of records in family history studies, proof of property and other rights and as evidence in court. From the cultural value, records can be used for research into amongst others, political, social and economic matters.  In other words, records can be used to describe or reconstruct an event or situation in the past.
• Administrative value – these are records that are needed for the business to conduct current business operations.
• Legal value – provisions or agreement that relate to the legal rights and obligations of the company.
• Fiscal value – these records relate to the financial transactions of an organisation.
• Research value – this is technical information that results from primary or secondary research and will have a research value to the industry.
• Information value – these documents need to be kept over a period of years e.g. copyrights and patents.
• Evidence value – these records trace the development of an organisation e.g. organisational charts, policies and procedures.