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Perhaps the problem is that we are in an "arms race"
with the developers.
Someone invents drawing, we fill up the walls of our
cave, "I've just learnt write where can I write ? I know, clay tiles", so the
clay tiles build up. "I've filled up the floor of the hut where now?" I know,
I've been down to ye old B & Q and bought some shelves, perfect for clay
tables" so you can store lots more. Time goes on some one invents parchment then
paper, " I haven't got a clue where ye accounts are I know I'll store everything
in order, put the account over her, executions over there", so we've invented
some sort of indexing. Move forward and we build large libraries, fill up great
museums and need to know where things are so do bigger and better indexing. Some
things go missing but generally we know where things are.
We create ever more and more information, we run large
organisations and still keep some sort of control of what we
have.
IT is very much the same, we invent new and better ways
of creating data. doing things we need to do and there is a lag between
these inventions and RM in general catching up. With RM we now have a lot
of the tools available to help us sort some the problem its just that we need to
find ways to apply them. Change isn't particularly new, our reaction to it
is always slow, because it is the nature of the RM job to be
cautious.
Chris Tinsley MSc
Wiltshire County Council
Information is the
key
Steve
says -
"techniques which were appropriate for managing
a room full of paper are fundamentally unsuitable for managing gigabytes and
terabytes of digital information. Once we’ve cracked this – then I
guarantee that ‘records management’ will be back in vogue with our
employers"
The trend now seems to be towards keeping
everything as you like it in a sort of
electronic bucket because
- it's easier than
making a decision about it
- server space is
cheap (yes, I know, I know)
- doing Google type
searches is easy (ditto)
While we
records managers (or most of us) are saying, in direct
contradiction, that information must be properly
managed (i.e. classified in such a way so
that it is a) comprehensible to persons other than the creators and b)
to enable the appropriate security permissions and disposal
rules to be allocated) for compliance, risk management, business
continuity, efficiency, reputation,
governance blah blah.
And no-one is listening - or, even if they are and agree in
principle (e.g. by employing a records
manager), they are saying, as David succinctly put it, that they are nevertheless "too busy and too
important to file things" and they look to IT - and, sometimes, us - to produce a neat and
tidy "solution" to save them having to do this
work. We of course say that rules have to be thought about, agreed and in place
before any IT solution will
work (that's where the "too busy" argument crops
up again).....I also agree wholeheartedly
with Nicola's statement "Unless I better understand the nature of
electronic records that are now created on multiple platforms or in multiple
formats, I can not really recommend strategies and processes to manage these
records". I have managed to
raise my profile to get occasionally involved in IT planning and, as Claire
says, now have to "take the consequences (everyone will despise you when
you can't deliver what they want or what they said they wanted in the business
case)". A training course in IT speak would be highly
beneficial!
Have we not had/are we not
getting the right training? Where are the neat and
tidy records management solutions which we can
throw at our organisations as giving ROI (ECM/EDRM - too expensive. Sharepoint or
equivalent? Maybe - but the rules argument still applies). I
go on course after course (at least there's money in our training budget...) desperately trying to learn about techniques
to demonstrate that I am giving ROI to my organisation ( I
know that I am but the benefits are hidden and unquantifiable because they
all fit into the category of preventative medicine unless they relate to getting
rid of paper where it's easy to show the
benefits).
A debate at the next conference would be
brilliant. And Steve - how about
those techniques you mention? Got a nice tidy summary of
possibilities for discussion? You just might convert me yet!
Clare
Clare Cowling
Records Manager
Solicitors Regulation
Authority
Ipsley
Court
Berrington
Close
Redditch B98
0TD
Ph: direct line 01527
512926
Internal
extension: 3996
Mobile 07816 929734
Fax: 0152 7883285
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