The CRS System: How our records are arranged and controlled

Australian and sea lion, Heard Island
An Australian expeditioner approaching a sea lion, Heard Island, 1948. Photographed by D Eastman.
NAA: A1200, L10036

Knowing about the context in which records are created can help you to find the records you want. It can also help you understand more about them.

It is often useful to know certain things about the record in addition to its contents. For example:

  • who created the record
  • when was it created
  • what other records exist that deal with the same general subject or issue

This information helps you to interpret what the record is really about, determine its relevance and decide how accurate or complete it might be.

The National Archives of Australia documents this contextual information for each record in the collection using the Commonwealth Record Series (CRS) System. Under the CRS System there are three important and related entities: agencies, series and items.

agencies

(government departments, statutory authorities etc)

create
series

(groups of related records created or accumulated by the same agency)
which are comprised of
items

(individual records in any format, such as files, volumes, maps, photographs, or sound recordings)

A single agency may have created or accumulated many series, and a series may consist of thousands of individual items, or as few as one. Series may also be created by persons, ie depositors of personal record collections, such as ministers or prime ministers.

The basic unit of archival arrangement is the series. When a series is registered, the following details are added to RecordSearch:

  • the series number and series title
  • a description of the creating agency and its predecessors (these are given a CA or Commonwealth Agency number)
  • the subject matter of the series
  • its date range
  • the format of the individual items making up the series
  • their quantity (expressed in shelf metres)
  • where they are held (location) and
  • details of previous, subsequent and related series.

The following is an example of the most basic descriptive information maintained by the Archives at each level of the CRS System hierarchy.

1. AgencyCA 1872Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions, 1947–1955
2. SeriesP1556Files containing Heard Island Antarctic Station Reports with Station Log Books interspersed, chronological series, 1947– ongoing
3. Item231/54/119

Heard Island 1954 Seal Sightings Log, 1954–1955

1 = the CA or Commonwealth Agency number
2 = the CRS or series number
3 = the item number

You will need the series number and item number to request the issue of records to the reading room and to order copies. The series number and item number are the equivalent of a book's call number in a library.

The agency and series information provides the intellectual framework and context for the record. The item constitutes the primary research material – the actual record issued to you in the reading room.