Kate

There are several options available to your colleague depending on career
ambitions, finance,  etc.  Your colleague will first have to decide what she
wants from any qualification.  I don't think there is an NVQ in records
management anymore, but you may want to talk to the records management
society www.rms-gb.org.uk

I do know people, who are working with a local university and almost
creating a degree which is based on their own work, so within a framework
and with lecturer support you would write an assessment for yourself based
on a work task such as re-designing a service's filing scheme, developing
retention schedule etc.  Contact your organisations HR department, and the
local university to see if this is an option.

You could also try the university sector at either undergraduate or
postgraduate level.  Liverpool university run an undergraduate
diploma/certificate in records management which is distance learning and
takes 1-4 years.  Further details here:
http://www.liv.ac.uk/lucas/rim/D-CPS%20RIM.htm

There are also a number of postgraduate courses your colleague could look
into.  For instance Northumbria University offer a MSc in Records Management
over 2 years by distance learning.  I must confess to being a student on
this course, currently in year 2 and whilst I am intending to obtain the
MSc, some friends on the course have decided not to complete year 2, and
instead have obtained a postgraduate diploma instead.  Further details here:
http://northumbria.ac.uk/?view=CourseDetail&code=181

As Jesse said do a Google search, or look for postgraduate courses on the
prospects website at:
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Postgrad_study_main_menu/p
!eFpclp;jsessionid=a630f73ce882$FBM$E7q


My best advice would be to contact a few of the universities, Dundee,
Glasgow etc and see what courses are available, and what the entry
requirements are.  Since there are people on my postgraduate course who have
not completed an undergraduate degree - also check whether your colleague's
employer would help with funding, study time etc.  I have to say that the
university staff I have met have all been very helpful, so don't be afraid
to e-mail them directly and ask for their advice.

Depending on what role your colleague is in, and again what the career
ambition are, they may be interested in becoming a certified records
manager.  This is achieved by completing a series of exams on key areas of
records management. The certificate has the advantage of being
internationally recognised but UK employers tend to prefer postgraduate or
at least undergraduate qualifications but it is another option.  Further
details here: http://www.icrm.org/intro.htm

Good luck
Paula

Paula J Smith
Records Manager
Cheshire County Council




-----Original Message-----
From: The UK Records Management mailing list
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Pritchard, Kate
Sent: 14 February 2006 14:04
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Qualifications in records management


Dear all,
A colleague of mine is interested in doing a course in records and
information management. Preferably at NVQ level. Do you know of anything
that may be suitable? Many thanks Kate

 
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