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Clare I could suggest two warnings about this statistic. First, there was a (rather lengthy) thread about it in another discussion list a few years ago (sorry I cannot be precise). The eventual consensus was, as I recall, * the statistic was attributed to an old (and now very old) study purportedly carried out by Price Waterhouse; * nobody can be identified who was involved in that study; * nobody can find a copy of the original report. So it appeared then that this had become folklore with an unknown source. I acknowledge of course that other references (such as the TKM journal quoted by Janette Young) may claim a better source. Second, and perhaps more importantly, what on earth does "80% of information/records created by organisations" actually mean? What is the information content of (say) a file about a project, or of the latest Board minutes? And if you succeed in measure this information content, how do you compare it to the information content of (say) a relational table which is constantly changing? I fear that the whole concept is flaky. At best, it can be used as a suggestion to foster qualitative thinking about the situation; but it would be a mistake to believe it is quantitatively true. Marc Fresko It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information - Oscar Wilde ________________________________ From: The UK Records Management mailing list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Clare Cowling Sent: 02 August 2005 09:42 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Unstructured data Dear all, There's a lot of talk these days about the 80% of information/records created by organisations which comprise unstructured data, while c.20% only is structured into databases. Does anyone have the source for this? I believe it was Gartner, but can't find the actual source document anywhere. It's a powerful argument for records management, but not much good unless it can be substantiated (other than through the evidence of our own eyes). Clare Clare Cowling Records Manager The Law Society 113 Chancery Lane London WC2A 1PL Tel 020 7320 9541 (internal ext 4605) [log in to unmask] This email is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient then you must not copy it, forward it, use it for any purpose, or disclose it to another person. Instead please return it to the sender immediately and copy your communication to [log in to unmask] Please then delete your copy from your system. Please also note that the author of this email is not authorised to conclude any contract on behalf of the Law Society by email. Thank you.