TO: Archive Personnel
FROM: Records Division
SUBJECT: Record Preservation Procedures
STATUS: Internal Notice
All recovered materials are to be preserved in their original state whenever possible.
Do not correct contradictions.
Do not rewrite witness statements for clarity.
Do not remove damaged, incomplete, or unverifiable details unless the material presents an immediate risk to personnel or public access systems.
The Archive exists to preserve what remains, not to make the record comfortable.
Recovered files may contain:
- Conflicting dates
- Damaged photographs
- Unverified witness accounts
- Missing location data
- Partial names
- Unstable descriptions
- Evidence that cannot be reproduced
These irregularities are not to be treated as errors by default.
If two records disagree, both records are to remain attached until further review.
If a witness remembers something that official history does not support, the witness statement is still to be preserved.
If a location no longer appears on current maps, previous documentation is not to be deleted.
The purpose of the Archive is not certainty.
The purpose of the Archive is preservation.
End of memorandum.