One Standard for Common Terminology

ISO 30300:2020 Information and documentation — Records management — Core concepts and vocabulary is a records management standard that provides a unified set of terms and concepts. It serves as the definitive source for definitions used in all products related to SC 11. As other products are updated, they will align their terminology with ISO 30300. Additionally, new products will incorporate this standardized terminology from the beginning.

Having a common set of terms helps in understanding standards and makes it easier to translate them into other languages. This standard can also be applied beyond records management, extending its usefulness to other domains.

ISO 30300 includes six concept diagrams that illustrate the relationships between different concepts and terms. It defines 70 terms, including 21 commonly used terms found in management system standards.

Since 2008, a group of experts led by Xiaomi An from China has been working on developing this common terminology. Their efforts have been guided by the principles and methods outlined in "ISO 704:2009 Terminology work - Principles and methods" and "ISO 860:2007 Terminology work - Harmonization of concepts and terms." The work was also influenced by terminology groups for other Management Systems Standards (MSS) that were establishing core definitions now required in these types of standards.