Introduction to the Second Edition
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 October 2020
Summary
The twofold purpose of the first edition of this book, Records Management and Information Culture: Tackling the people problem, holds true for this second edition. Firstly, the motivation to do something about the messy and difficult issues which are inevitable when we attempt to manage records in organisations and communities. Why are they inevitable? Because organisations are made up of people, who have different backgrounds, goals and expectations, and whose primary purpose as employees is to perform work as set out in their position descriptions. Each individual will have some responsibilities related to the creation and management of records and information, but in the majority of cases, such responsibilities will not be itemised in their job descriptions. The magnitude of this people problem has been frequently described anecdotally but now there is empirical evidence available in the outcomes of the University of Northumbria's research project into electronic records management issues. The headline findings from this global project included the following:
Participants identified people issues as part of all three facets investigated [i.e. people, processes and technology]. They are predominant, fundamental and challenging because they concern culture, philosophical attitudes, awareness of records management and ERM [electronic records management] issues, preferences, knowledge and skills.
(McLeod et al., 2011, 73–4)A further finding from the same project was particularly striking, as it points to some critical features in the way that we work that may in fact prove to be detrimental to achieving our goals:
Records professionals were open enough to recognise they may be part of the problem as well as part of the solution. On the positive side, records professionals take a holistic view and have the principles and tools to manage records; however their demands may be unrealistic or too constraining. Respondents identified a range of attitudes of records managers and their approaches to ERM that should be avoided …
(McLeod et al., 2011, 79–80)These findings have been echoed in subsequent studies, for example in Sir Alex Allan's review of electronic recordkeeping in British government departments. Summary findings included the following comments:
Existing systems which require individual users to identify documents that should constitute official records, and then to save them into an EDRMS [electronic document and records management system] or corporate file plan, have not worked well. The processes have been burdensome and compliance poor.
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- Recordkeeping Cultures , pp. xi - xviPublisher: FacetPrint publication year: 2019