Dictionary definition(s) for: diplomatics

• n., The discipline which studies the genesis, forms and transmission of archival documents, and their relationship with the facts represented in them and with their creator, in order to identify, evaluate, and communicate their true nature.
  [ Archives - School of Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS) Glossary ]
  School of Library, Archival and Information Studies. "Select List of Archival Terminology." School of Library, Archival and Information Studies. http://www.slais.ubc.ca/RESOURCES/students/Archival_Terminology.pdf.
• n., An analytical technique for determining the authenticity of records issued by sovereign authorities in previous centuries.
  [ Archives - Trusting Records: Legal, Historical, and Diplomatic Perspectives , Page: 86 ]
  MacNeil,Heather. Trusting Records: Legal, Historical, and Diplomatic Perspectives. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000.
• n., The science dealing with the types and elements of documents.
  [ Archives - Dictionary of Archival Terminology ]
  Dictionary of Archival Terminology. 2nd rev. ed. Edited by Peter Walne. New York: K.G. Saur, 1988.
• n., The study of the creation, forms, and transmission of records, and their relationship to the facts represented in them and to their creator, in order to identify, evaluate, and communicate their nature and authenticity.
  [ 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