Abstract/Résumé/Resumen
The large volume of records produced by public and private entities is often created and accumulated without the criteria of archival policies or records management program. In this way, records are not adequately treated and organized, generating accumulated documentary masses. With the introduction of computing in administrative activities, records started to be digitized and/or produced only in digital media, and, therefore, there is the migration of accumulated documentary masses to a new environment. In this sense, the objective is to understand what accumulated documentary masses are according to Brazilian literature and how they are created in a digital environment. To this end, following the parameters of qualitative research, we searched for what national literature understands as accumulated documentary masses and the implications of their formation in the digital scope. Finally, it is concluded that the accumulated documentary masses in a digital environment cause damages ranging from the difficulty of retrieving information to destruction and permanent loss of digital records. Still, it is noted that for both analogue and digital records, archival policies, professional qualification, and records management are fundamental for the prevention and treatment of their accumulations.
