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I have to agree with Steve (though he may not agree with what I am saying here). Just as I am coming around to the idea that a more flexible approach is needed towards records management in the Web 2.0 world I find I am being instructed by our IT people on the need for IT/RM co-operation to create business classifications schemes, file plans, corporate taxonomies, more locked down systems and even timely disposal (wow) of information to ensure compliance, enhance search and improve our knowledge base….
Does this mean that it’s IT, not us, that is behind the times? Are they now taking up the old RM mantle of trying to hold back the tide while we, perversely, start accepting the inevitable and begin to support and actively promote the freer, more individualistic way of working which Web 2.0 permits?
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
email [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Archivists, conservators and
records managers. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Steve
Bailey - JISC infoNet
Sent: 04
February 2009 14:54
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: 30 Year Review
Hi Peter,
The point I make in the blog is that many working in IT are steadily beginning to recognise (or are being asked to by their management) many of the considerations and issues that we would consider as being ‘records management’ issues. As I also say in the blog, records management is more about a particular perspective and view on certain elements of the management of information, rather than representing some specialist programming code or professional skill such as medicine. As such the reason why IT have not understood archiving or have previously promoted the retention of all emails is because they have never had a professional need to look at these issues from another perspective – not that they are somehow incapable of doing so.
My point is that this is now changing. Whether it be because of the Green ICT agenda, corporate governance or service orientated architectures or for other reasons, ‘records management’ issues are now being discussed and addressed and, in time, are likely to be solved by, the ‘mainstream’ IT industry – not by records managers. One only has to consider resource discovery to see how this trend has already played out. In the pre-IT era organisations were reliant on their Registry staff (the records managers of their day) and their subject indexes and classification schemes to locate the information they held. In the IT-era bright sparks in Silicon Valley realised the potential of free text searching and automated search engines and the rest is history.
Now that the IT industry is on the cusp of realising that it is not all about the creation and storage of more information but the effective management, preservation (and even deletion) of the information you already have those same bright sparks will not take long to articulate the problem and find automated, scalable and workable ways of dealing with it.
Steve
From:
Archivists, conservators and records managers.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Peter Kurilecz
Sent: 04
February 2009 13:58
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: 30 Year Review
On Wed, Feb 4, 2009 at 6:17 AM, Steve Bailey - JISC infoNet <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
My point, as elaborated on in a subsequent blog post this morning
http://rmfuturewatch.blogspot.com/2009/02/more-on-end-of-records-managem
ent-as.html is that IT people *do* (or at least very shortly will) have
the expertise and skills required to do this, and that this, combined
with their existing technical skills, will make for a more complete
package than we can offer. As a result it seems natural that
organisations will look to them, rather than records managers, for the
answers to the kinds of questions and issues that they are facing.
I'll have to respectfully disagree with the idea that IT people have the
expertise. I am heavily involved with assisting companies in the implementation
of ERMS and I spend quite some time on each engagement working to make sure
that IT and RM are on the same plane and not talking past each other. They have
the technical knowledge, but... The IT folks are like (and this is a
compliment) a good auto mechanic they know how the car works and can put one
together following the instructions, but without the plans put together by the
designer the mechanic wouldn't know where to begin. As long as IT continues to
misuse words like 'archive' when they mean storage or they recommend the
capture and storage of ALL emails regardless of content there will always be a
need for RM's hand on the tiller. It takes both sides to put together a good
ERMS, but it has to be balanced.
Peterk
--
Peter Kurilecz CRM CA
[log in to unmask]
Richmond, Va