The continuum model outlines four dimensions of records-related activities that can take place at a particular place and time: records are created, captured, organized and pluralized, as explained briefly below:

• Create: an action, transaction or event is documented. In other words, a record or piece of evidence is made.
• Capture: this piece of evidence is kept and stored for immediate or longer term protection in a personal or corporate record-keeping environment; descriptive information such as metadata is added to allow the evidence to be found and understood again by the creator. In other words, the record or other pieces of evidence (a digital database, photography, or report) is stored in the personal or office records system.
• Organize: the evidence is contextualized with more information, such as descriptive elements, so that it can continue to be accessed and used over time. In other words, the record or piece of information is arranged, described and contextualized.
• Pluralize: the evidence becomes part of an archival or record-keeping system, becoming part of the holdings of a larger archival system, such as the archives within a national or state institution. In other words, the record or piece of evidence, with its descriptive information included, is added to the collection of an archival institution's or incorporated into an online archival resource so that it forms part of the documentary memory of society.

• Transactionality is the interaction between the four activities and the action taken. Create is a single transaction: the creation of a document. Capture is a larger activity: the management of a group of records by a group such as a department. Organize happens at a broader level: records are managed as a function within the organization. Pluralize takes place when records are managed for the purpose of serving the wider society.
• Evidentiality is the interaction between the four activities and the purpose of the record. When a document is created it is a trace, but when it is captured it becomes evidence. When it is organized it serves as corporate or individual memory, and when it is pluralized it serves as collective memory.
• Record keeping is the interaction between the four activities and the record itself. The activity of create results in a document, which may or may not be archival. The activity of capture results in a record. The activity of organize results in an archive for the organization. The activity of pluralize results in archives for society.
• Identity is intersection between the four activities and the people doing the work. The actor or individual creates records to document his or her activities. The capture of those records is done by a unit or group of people in an office. The organization as a whole organizes those records for its own purposes. The institution pluralizes those archives for the benefit of society.