An archivist is essentially one who assesses whether a given piece of information is of value and, if it is determined to be of value, maintains the information in the appropriate manner. Determining whether information is of value varies a great deal depending upon the purpose of the archives being collected. The information that is being examined and maintained can take on any number of forms including documents, letters, photographs, audio recordings, and videos. Beyond maintaining the records, an archivist must also ensure that the information is preserved in such a way that it is able to be found, and once found, be understandable.