Theorerical and methodological challenges around the record as a digital object on the web

The notion of record (or archival document) plays a central role in archival theory and methodology. The diffusion of digital information technologies in the entities that produce documents and archives implied a series of changes, among which is the consideration of the nature of the object of study and intervention. However, the most radical transformations began to be observed in the practices of archiving digital objects on the internet. This review article aims to analyze the theoretical and methodological premises of the concept of record, and contrast them with the peculiarities that were emerging around the archival practices of digital objects on the internet. The work is structured in three parts. While the first presents the theoretical and methodological assumptions of the said concept within the dominant paradigm, the second puts them in relation to the emerging properties of the practice of archiving digital objects on the internet. Finally, the third part provides a reflection on the theoretical and methodological challenges that open up in the current context, proposing some lines of inquiry for new approaches.