An organized collection of the noncurrent records of the activities of a person, group, or organization, usually in a repository managed and maintained by a trained archivist.
| Libraries | Archives |
| Published materials | Unpublished materials |
| Books, periodicals |
Letters, diaries, speeches, photographs, scrapbooks, periodicals, audio and visual materials |
| Browse and retrieve materials yourself | Request materials from staff |
| Individual items | Collections of items |
| Item level cataloging | Descriptions can be collection level, box level, or folder level |
| Multiple copies | Unique materials |
| Can borrow materials | Must view items onsite |
| Lower security | Higher security |
