Qualities and Characteristics of Records With Intrinsic Value

All record materials having intrinsic value possess one or more of the following specific qualities or characteristics. These qualities or characteristics relate to the physical nature of the records, their prospective uses, and the information they contain:

-Provide meaningful documentation or significant examples
-Documents may be preserved in their original form as evidence of technological development.
-For instance, a series of early press copies, glass-plate negatives, or sound recordings may be retained.
-All records having a particular physical form would not be considered to have intrinsic value because of this characteristic; however, a selection broad enough to provide evidence of technological development would be considered to have some value. 

-Aesthetic or artistic quality
Records having aesthetic or artistic quality may include photographs; pencil, ink, or watercolor sketches; maps; architectural drawings; and printed forms, such as bounty-land warrants.

-Unique or curious physical features
Physical features that are unique or curious might include quality and texture of paper, color, wax seals, imprints and watermarks, inks, and unusual bindings.
All records having a particular physical feature would not be considered to have intrinsic value because of this feature; however, an exemplary selection of each type would be considered to have such value.

-Age that provides a quality of uniqueness
Age is a relative rather than an absolute quality.
Generally, records of earlier date are of more significance than records of later date.

-This can be because of a historical change in the functions and activities of the creator of the records, the scarcity of earlier records, a change in recordkeeping practices, or a combination of these.
-Age can be a factor even with comparatively recent records. The earliest records concerning, for example, the development of the radio industry or of nuclear power could have intrinsic value because of age.

Value for use in exhibits
Records used frequently for exhibits normally have several qualities and characteristics that give them intrinsic value.

Records with exhibit value impressively convey the immediacy of an event, depict a significant issue, or impart a sense of the person who is the subject or originator of the record. In these cases, the impact of the original document cannot be equaled by a copy.

General and substantial public interest because of direct association with famous or historically significant people, places, things, issues, or events
This criterion is not only the most difficult to apply, but also the most important in terms of the volume of records to which it could be applied.

It could be used to justify preserving in original form almost all permanently valuable records because of their historical importance.

Archival judgment is the crucial factor in determining whether there is general and substantial public interest, whether the association is direct, and whether the subject is famous or historically significant.

Generally, those series with a high concentration of such information should be preserved.