Vital records are records of life events kept under governmental authority. These records include birth certificates, marriage licenses, separation agreements, divorce certificates, and death certificates. In some jurisdictions, vital records may also include records of civil unions or domestic partnerships. Vital records are typically maintained at both the county and state levels in the United States, while in the United Kingdom and numerous other countries, vital records are recorded in the civil registry. Vital records are public in the United States and in most cases can be viewed by anyone in person at the governmental authority, and copies can also be requested for a fee. There are two types of copies: certified and uncertified. Certified copies are typically required for legal purposes, while uncertified copies are for informational purposes only.
Apart from governmental vital records, there are also other types of vital records that are critical to an organizations operations, such as financial records, contracts, and personnel records. These records are referred to as vital records because they are unique to the organization, impossible to reproduce, and critical to its operations. They can exist in any format, including paper, photo, database, electronic file, etc. . The identification and protection of vital records is crucial as the loss of a vital record would have severe consequences for both the office of record and the organization as a whole.
