Decision-making skills – a key to driving change when agility is everything

an article by Linda Shave (researcher, consultant and auditor) published in Bulletin (of the Information and Records Management Society) Number 189 (January 2016)

Ms Shave takes readers through the six steps of decision-making skills.

There is no online copy of this article for me to crib so if you want further information, or to get Ms Shave's help in sorting out your, or your organisation's, decision-making skills she can be contacted at linda.shave@bigpond.com

Step 1: Understanding what decision-making skills are

Step 2: Knowing how decision-making skills are useful

Step 3: Grasping the foundation of a good decision

Step 4: Knowing how to use decision-making tools

• informal discussion
• brainstorming
• elimination
• prioritising

Step 5: Putting your decision to work

Step 6: Gathering information

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Effective records and information management as a catalyst for fighting corruption

an article by Constant Okello-Obura (University of South Africa and Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda) published in Information Development Volume 29 Number 3 (May 2013)

Abstract

The paper examines the need for effective records and information management as a cornerstone ingredient in fighting corruption.

By use of a literature review, it makes a contextual analysis of corruption and the significant roles records and information management can play in fighting it.

In particular it gives good records and information management specifics for fighting corruption and concludes that corruption is a “disease” that needs a “vaccine” called effective records and information management (RIM).

As a way forward, the paper recommends key parameters to consider so that RIM can significantly aid the fight against corruption.

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Information Audit: Towards common standards and methodology

an article by Peter Griffiths (Independent Information Specialist) published in Business Information Review Volume 29 Number 1 (March 2012)

Abstract

This article further analyses a number of issues highlighted in a previous discussion of the current state of Information Audit (IA), and offers a graphical representation of the IA landscape.

Library and Information Science (LIS) struggles to establish its ‘soft’ approach to IA as the leading methodology despite repeated endorsement by authors in other professional groups with some kind of interest in information management. They have found the LIS IA methodology using analysis of information needs and flows to be a useful analytical tool that allows them to evaluate information assets and to demonstrate compliance in asset management – whether those assets are financial, documentary or intangibles such as know-how.

Since the implementation of Freedom of Information legislation, records management has espoused a strong focus on compliance and the avoidance of penalties for data protection breaches, but recent publications suggest that organizations of all kinds are adopting this finance- and accountancy-driven approach to information audit. This may be because it is seen as best able to manage the growing complexity of regulation and legislation (local, national and international) that affects information management.

Forming strategic alliances with other players, the information profession must take the lead in establishing standard IA procedures and definitions drawing on its own praxis, which is widely accepted by other disciplines. There needs to be a single point of call for standardizing and accrediting IA skills, with the creation of a supporting body of knowledge whose evidence base goes beyond standard journal literature and monographs to include the now considerable corpus of unpublished theses as well as papers in languages other than English.

As IA is adopted by a growing number of professional disciplines, LIS and KIM (Knowledge and Information Management) professionals – and also some finance professionals – can now find and seize opportunities beyond the boundaries of more traditional information work.

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Preserving Records in the Cloud

an article by Jan Askhoj, Shigeo Sugimoto and Mitsuharu Nagamori (University of Tsukuba) published in Records Management Journal Volume 21 Issue 3 (2011)

Abstract

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the characteristics of managing records in a cloud computing environment and compare these with existing archiving models, exemplified by the OAIS reference model.
Design/methodology/approach
We compare the functional entities in OAIS with a layered model of cloud computing, in which services are abstracted and shared between layers. We conclude that there are a number of areas where OAIS does not integrate well with cloud computing systems.
Findings
Based on our findings, we define a new layered model for a cloud archiving system using the concepts and information types from the OAIS reference model. The proposed model allows the sharing of functionality and information objects by making them available as services to higher layers. The model covers the entire document lifecycle, making archive functionality such as preservation planning possible at an early stage and helping to simplify records transfer.
Research limitations/implications
We believe that our model provides a simple, OAIS compatible approach to representing how digital objects and necessary metadata can be transferred from content creation systems to archives systems.
Originality/value
Whereas a lot of research has been done on the technical aspects of cloud storage, there is a lack of focus on how to comprehensively integrate records transfer and preservation in cloud systems.

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Records management in English local government: …

the effect of freedom of information

an article by Elizabeth Shepherd and Andrew Flinn (University College London) and Alice Stevenson (Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford) published in Records Management Journal (Volume 21 Issue 2 (2001))

Abstract

Purpose
University College London (UCL) ran a research project over 12 months in 2008-2009, funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council, which examined what the impact of the UK Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 had been on records management services in local government. This paper aims to report on some of the findings of the study, with a focus on the practical records management issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The research considered the three perspectives of records managers: institutional FOI; policy managers; and FOI requestors and user communities.
Following an extensive literature review, qualitative research methods were used to gather data, specifically semi-structured interviewing of 27 individuals from 19 different institutions in London and the South East of England and with 11 requestors.
Findings
The findings reported in this paper focus on records services in local government, in particular their organisational location and status, and aspects of the management of current and non-current records, including those in digital formats.
Research limitations/implications
This paper is one of the outputs of a grant-funded project, which documents the results of research in FOI from a records management perspective and makes a contribution to the wider debate about access to information. It attempts to survey user responses, which has been an overlooked aspect of other FOI and records management research.
Practical implications
There are some implications for good practice in records management policy and systems and in the location of records functions in local government.
Originality/value
Local government is an under-researched field in respect of information management and FOI, when compared with other parts of the public sector, and this is therefore a significant contribution to knowledge in this field.

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