Livelton considers the nature of public records from an archival perspective, analyzing concepts rather than the daily realities with which public records archivists deal. However, his carefully reasoned conclusions provide a strong foundation on which principled rather than ad hoc decisions can be made, and so will be of interest to teachers, students and practitioners of archival science.
The author presents a general or theoretical view of public records as documents made or received and preserved by the sovereign or its agents in the conduct of governance. This analysis is illustrated by a variety of examples, including a discussion of freedom of information.