Dictionary definition(s) for: audit trail

• n., Documentation of all the interactions with records within an electronic system in which any access to the system is recorded as it occurs.
  [ Archives - The InterPARES 1 Project Glossary , Page: 356-357 ]
  Duranti, Luciana, ed. The Long-term Preservation of Authentic Electronic Records: Findings of the InterPARES Project. San Miniato, Italy: Archilab, 2005. Also available online at http://interpares.org/book.
• n., A record showing the occurrence of specified events relevant to the security of a computer system. For example, an entry might be made in the audit trail whenever a user logs in or accesses a file. Examination of the audit trail may detect attempts at violating the security of the system and help to identify the violator.
  [ Computer and Information Sciences - A Dictionary of Computing ]
  A Dictionary of Computing. Oxford University Press, 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. University of British Columbia. 4 August 2006 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t11.e256
• n., An electronic means of auditing all the interactions with records within an electronic system so that any access to the system can be documented as it occurs for the purpose of preventing unauthorized actions in relation to the records, e.g., modification, deletion, or addition, and of ensuring that changes in one of its components do not cause errors elsewhere in the system (the closest correspondent means for the non-electronic components of the records system is the charge-out procedure which controls access to dossiers and their movement within the agency).
  [ Archives - Preservation of the Integrity of Electronic Records , Page: 110 ]
  Duranti, Luciana, Terry Eastwood, and Heather MacNeil. Preservation of the Integrity of Electronic Records. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002.
• n., Information about transactions or other activities which have affected or changed entities (e.g. metadata elements), held in sufficient detail to allow the reconstruction of a previous activity.
  [ Archives - Model Requirements for the Management of Electronic Records (MoReq) - Glossary , Page: 102 ]
  European Commission. Model Requirements for the Management of Electronic Records: MoReq Specification . Luxembourg : Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2001. http://www.cornwell.co.uk/moreqdocs/moreq.pdf.
• n., Information in records that track a transaction from beginning to end, making it possible to review whether it was done according to relevant policies and standards.
  [ Archives - A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology (The Society of American Archivists) ]
  Pearce-Moses, Richard. A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2005. http://www.archivists.org/glossary/index.asp
• n., Methods to demonstrate that records were effectively protected from unauthorized, use, alteration or destruction.
  [ General Dictionaries - 15489-1 ]
  International Organization for Standardization. Information and Documentation: Records Management . 15489-1. Part 1. Geneva: ISO, 2001.