official records
Authorized written accounts
Official records are documents created or maintained by governments, institutions, or organizations as formal evidence of activities, decisions, or transactions.
They carry legal weight and are presumed authentic: The official records show she was born in 1952.
Court proceedings, birth certificates, property deeds, and meeting minutes all qualify.
Official records contrast with personal notes or informal documentation.
- reportsFormal written findings
- affidavitsSworn written legal statements
- meeting minutesFormal record of discussions
- permitsGrants formal authorization
- willsLegal inheritance documents
contracts · subpoenas · archives · paper trail · patents · ledgers · birth certificates · death certificate · vital statistics · tax returns · statutes · transcripts · deeds · resolutions · depositions · bank statements · land titles · genealogies
- sourcesbook, encyclopedia, source, journals, magazine
- court recordscourt documents, court transcripts, court cases, case files, court orders
- official recordsbirth certificate, government documents, birth certificates, death certificate, death certificates
- reference documentswhite papers, royal commissions, committee reports, audit reports
- diplomaticscharters, deeds, diplomas, briefs, royal charters
- Security Councilveto power, vetoes, permanent members, China, France
official recordsoral tradition
Culture passed by speech
word of mouth · oral history · private correspondence · hearsay · samizdat
official recordsprivate papers
personal diaries · personal journals · private letters · home videos · personal memoirs