Question

Records are considered lost when the following conditions are true. Check all that apply:

1) The records have been destroyed
2) The records cannot be located
3) The records have been tampered with
4) The records are incomplete

Answer 1

Records are considered lost if they are destroyed, cannot be located, or are incomplete to the point of ineffectiveness.

Step-by-step explanation:

Records are typically considered lost under several conditions, which can affect the integrity and availability of the records for an organization. To clarify:

• The records have been destroyed: Completely destroyed records are considered lost as they are no longer recoverable in any form.
• The records cannot be located: If efforts to find the records have been exhausted and they still cannot be found, they are deemed lost.
• The records have been tampered with: While this compromises the record's integrity, they are not necessarily considered lost unless the tampering renders them unrecognizable or unusable.
• The records are incomplete: Incompleteness may affect the usefulness of the records, but like tampering, it does not inherently mean the records are lost unless the missing information is essential to the record's function.

In summary, for records to be considered lost, they must either be destroyed, unlocatable, or so incomplete as to be rendered ineffective.