Originals – what is this and do we even need it?

Admittedly: the original is in crisis. Original, this is the original of a document that guarantees authenticity and imperfection. A copy cannot afford it. But how can original and copy even be distinguished in the digital world? And what do I need an original for?

In principle, originals are stored in an archive. Finally, it was – and is – one of the most important functions of an archive to keep documentes of legal certainty. For this, original documents such as purchase contracts or construction plans were and are required. You can prove a legal claim in dispute. For this purpose, legal transactions, especially property transactions, were already written and sealed on parchment according to certain rules in the Middle Ages. This has not changed until today. Even today, formal proof is only the original document, which is still subject to and sealed in the case of major legal transactions such as land purchase.

But originals make even more: they document the events comprehensible and reliable. The historical researcher is dependent on credible and reliable sources in the reconstruction of past events. Only originals can fulfill this function. Would the historical sources that have found admission to an archive be able to be changed arbitrarily, how would it be possible to understand how it really was? Without originals, there is no way to expose historical fake news. For this reason, archives retain originals and ensure their integrity from the date of the takeover into the archive. They are guarantor of the historical authenticity of the sources of our past.

Originals are therefore needed to secure evidence in legal traffic and to provide reliable documentation of the past. But how does it relate to documents that were created electronically (so-called born digitals)? The company is still in the experimental stage. The electronic signature should let the exhibitor know and guarantee the evidence of the electronic document. New possibilities of legally secure digital communication are developed. The archives work to preserve the authenticity of electronic documents in the long term. Where the path may also lead: archives will continue to ensure that the documents stored by them are preserved intact. So, do you want to know what it was? In doubt – ask the archivist!