Zespół, name or number is used to describe a group of archival documents.

Sygnatura (Sygn)refers to the file numbers within the Zespół.

Some archives in Poland identify the archival group with the town name in addition to the archival numbers.

Fond describes a group of documents (material generated by a single entity), i.e., record group.

Opis designates the primary subdivision or subordinate unit within the fond.

Delo signifies the individual file.

Example:

227/5/43,17;226/42

Fond 227/Opis 5/Delo 43 and 17;
Fond 226/Opis 42

Archival numbers in this chapter are assigned to each document or group of documents.

Zespół/Fond numbers are separated by a semicolon (;).

Fond/Opis/Delo numbers are separated by a slash (/).

File numbers are separated by a comma (,).

1892-1939
    (material from 1892 to 1939, with no known gaps)
1892/1939
    (material within these years, but with gaps)

The inventory lists provided by archives in Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Moldova often list only the year-span of documents, followed by the archival numbers. Thus, it is not always possible to identify which archival number corresponds to a particularyear or year-span.

Example:

1842-1844; 1857; 1859-1861; 1873
270/2/4,7,9,12;273/1/3-4;279/1/78

Therefore, the archival inventories in this database should be used in conjunction with the fond/opis/delo numbers
(or names) assigned by each archive.