至今為止，人類運用許多方式，留下活動記錄，同時亦致力於如何保存。法國大革 命末期，法國公文書管理制度大幅改革，自此之後，一向不公開的國家檔案，開始公諸世人， 成為現代檔案館制度的重要內容。為此，檔案館應具備的功能，便包括收集、整理、編目、保 存、修復及使用。行政機關所製作的公文書，並非此行政機關之私產，而為全體國民所共有。 檔案館將過去行政內容等資料公開，對民主制度之實行而言，誠具不可或缺之重要性。

　　　　　Up to the present, human activites have been recorded in different ways and well kept with all efforts. Ever since the large-scale imporvement of the maintenance system of the French government documents near the end of the French Revolution, the secretly preseved national archives have been open to the public and have become important collections in modern archives. Therefore, the functions of the archives cover the collection, organization, cataloging, conservation, preservation and utilization. The documents of the government administrative organizations are no longer private possessions of such organizations but belong rather to the ownership of the people on the whole. The open availability of the administrative documents of the past kept in the archives has thus its essential importance in the implementation of the modern democratic system.