On being part of the solution, not the problem: taking a proportionate approach to managing records

Purpose – This article seeks to provide a perspective on a future pathway for records management that is based on taking a proportionate approach rather than striving for perfection. This approach requires a re-interpretation of traditional principles and their application in practice and recognition of the predominance of people in successful information and records management in the digital domain. Design/methodology/approach – The views are the author's based on the headline findings of a major research project (AC+erm) which investigated issues and practical strategies for accelerating positive change in electronic records management. They incorporate views on contextual developments since the project, in particular the characteristics of today's hybrid and increasingly mobile office environment such as the use of recognition technologies. Findings – The ten headline findings of the AC+erm project are shared. Two strategic findings are highlighted, namely, articulating a vision of successful electronic records management and the approach to applying records management principles in order to realise that vision of success. The article then focuses on two of the other findings, about the need for information and records professionals to adopt proportionate and risk based approaches and to ensure they (the records professionals) are an essential part of the solution not the problem. Post the project, views on these and tactics for addressing them are discussed with reference to real examples and potential future research and development. Research limitations/implications – The research that provides the context for the article was qualitative and therefore its findings transferrable rather than generalisable. The views expressed about tactics for moving forward are intended to contribute to the debate about approaches to managing records in the democratic, digital domain. Practical implications – A proportionate approach to managing records by definition implies a risk-based approach. This may prove challenging in organizational, societal and cultural contexts that are risk averse. Originality/value – The research which underpins this article was the first on the subject to be conducted in the UK and adopted a unique evidence-based approach. Undertaken in the context of the “promise” of electronic document and records management systems, its findings are relevant in the broader systems solutions. They provide a context for this perspective on current and potential tactics for addressing strategic issues for managing records in the digital domain. This provides a significant contribution to knowledge and debate in this field

Development of RMJ: A mirror of the development of the profession and discipline of record management

The purpose of this paper is to examine critically the history of Records Management Journal on its 20th anniversary; it aims to review and analyse its evolution and its contribution in the context of the development of the profession and the discipline of records management. The paper seeks to provide the context and justification for the selection of eight articles previously published in the journal to be reprinted in this issue

LawSync: navigating the ‘blue oceans’ within the ‘emerging’ legal services markets

Change, it is said, is the only constant. Whilst it cannot be avoided, the worlds of legal education and legal services have arguably enjoyed an extended period where the impact of change has been comparatively minimal. Today, these worlds face significant changes due to a combination of market and regulatory forces. True, such changes are likely to be accompanied by challenges but with these challenges come opportunities. There is no reason why Law Schools and Law students cannot help to shape these changes and benefit from them. LawSync™ is a project that seeks to enable such influence and attract such benefits at Sheffield Hallam University. See http://www.lawsync.com and http://twitter.com/lawsync for more details

Research, relativity and relevance : can universal truths answer local questions

It is a commonplace that the internet has led to a globalisation of informatics and that this has had beneficial effects in terms of standards and interoperability. However this necessary harmonisation has also led to a growing understanding that this positive trend has an in-built assumption that "one size fits all". The paper explores the importance of local and national research in addressing global issues and the appropriateness of local solutions and applications. It concludes that federal and collegial solutions are to be preferred to imperial solutions

Contemporary Archival Appraisal Methods and Preservation Decision-Making

Archival administrators are beginning the search for administrative tools that rationalize difficult preservation priority decision-making processes. Some are suggesting that the new appraisal literature be evaluated for its application to preservation selection. This article reviews the literature covering archival appraisal\u27s role in the process of selection for preservation in archives, and addresses recent efforts to create archival preservation assessment and selection tools. It also provides overviews of some modern appraisal models which are intended for collections and preservation archivists who are working with selection-for-preservation issues. The author suggests that archivists need to concern themselves less with implementing preservation selection tools. They must concentrate first on understanding the values that make archival records significant, and then rationalize their preservation selection decision-making processes. Then, and only then, should the decisions\u27 hierarchy and flow be incorporated into a preservation assessment and selection tool that is adaptable to individual archival institutions, yet consistent enough to yield comparable data

A Dynamic Knowledge Management Framework for the High Value Manufacturing Industry

Dynamic Knowledge Management (KM) is a combination of cultural and technological factors, including the cultural factors of people and their motivations, technological factors of content and infrastructure and, where these both come together, interface factors. In this paper a Dynamic KM framework is described in the context of employees being motivated to create profit for their company through product development in high value manufacturing. It is reported how the framework was discussed during a meeting of the collaborating company’s (BAE Systems) project stakeholders. Participants agreed the framework would have most benefit at the start of the product lifecycle before key decisions were made. The framework has been designed to support organisational learning and to reward employees that improve the position of the company in the market place