of individual records can be in part established 
through their metadata, the authenticity of aggregations of records (i.e., file, series or fonds), 
can only be proved through archival description.  
It has always been the function, either explicit or implicit, of archival description to 
authenticate the records by perpetuating their administrative and documentary relationships; 
                                                 
36 See Terry Eastwood et al., “Part Two – Choosing to Preserve: The Selection