Managing
Electronic Records
Rick Barry
www.mybestdocs.com www.openreader.org
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Abstract
Purpose – This article aims to review the book Managing Electronic
Records edited by Julie McLeod and Catherine Hare, Facet Publishing,
Design/methodology/approach – The book is evaluated in the context of other related titles, the authors’ and editors’ aims for the text, the needs of professionals in the field and the reviewer’s views on required content.
Findings – The reviewer concludes that the book is one of the very best collections on electronic records to have been published.
Originality/value – The article reviews this book within the context of other titles, thereby informing readers of the broader range of resources in this challenging area.
Keywords – Electronic media, Records management, Ethics, Standards, Digital storage, Case studies
Paper type – Literature review
Keywords: electronic records, records management,
ethics, standards, digital preservation, implementation case studies
Keywords: electronic records, records management,
ethics, standards, digital preservation, implementation case studies
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About Managing Electronic Records
The Washington
Post has used a catchy promotional slogan: "If you don't get it, you
don't get it." It is not much of an exaggeration to borrow this as an aphorism
to describe Managing Electronic Records ("this
book") McLeod and Hare's (Eds.)
with a bevy of first-class, highly-experienced, chapter authors whose names
will be familiar to most professionals who keep up internationally in the field
of electronic records management. It is one of the very best collections and
presentations on electronic records that I've seen put together. It is an
important one to talk about. It is apparent from reading this book that the editors designed it to lead us
to that conclusion. It happened for good reasons.
- There is an obvious understanding by the
editors of the perplexing issues surrounding electronic records in a very
current sense and they were able to formulate those issues in a vision and
framework for the book.
- They knew what and where the best
resource pools were in these issue areas and had the ability to draw
authors from those pools. The editors rounded up an outstanding team of
authors who are international (from five
continents), interdisciplinary (knowledge and information management,
ARM, computer, information and library sciences, IT, human resources) and inter-perspective
(public-private sector, theorist-educator-practitioner,
manager-consultant). Chapter authors An, Cumming, Ellis, Fuzeau, Harris,
Hofman, Laeven, Marciano, McDonald, Moore, Ryan and Stephens cut a wide
swath in the field from strategy to implementation. Hare and McLeod have
done not only an excellent orchestral job in getting this book together,
but are also important authors imbuing the book with insights of their
own.
- The editors know that there are other
critical aspects of electronic records that don't neatly fit into their
classification scheme—management of electronic records at the strategic,
tactical and operational levels. They also understand that we need to go
beyond the regime and system planning and implementation perspectives in
making electronic records a reality. Thus, to make it more than a
"How-To" guide, as good a job as it does on that score, McLeod
and Hare didn't shy away from including excellent chapters on R&D and
ethics. Along with the chapters supporting the book's classification
scheme, these chapters fit into the broader framework and vision that they
had for the book—what they call the "long game" view.
No book is without some weak spots. I will
mention a few along the way. However, the bottom line is that this book is a
'get-er,' 'save-er' 'consume-er' and, in some ways, even a 'model-er' for
future books on the subject as the inevitable forces of change cause us to
revisit newer and better ways to manage electronic records. Let's talk about
the book in terms of its content, context and structure, which ought to be a
familiar and comfortable way for ARM professionals to think about it.
Content
How the
book stacks up against the editors' vision for it may not be the most important
approach, but it is probably the fairest. From a marketing point of view,
taking the readership perspective may be the most important. The trick, of
course, is for authors to sufficiently well understand the marketplace that
their vision and delivery for the book captures and addresses market needs.
I'll mention some topics that I consider important in managing electronic
records, but those should be considered principally as provocations for
discussion and for future writers rather than criticisms of this book. (If I
were so smart, why didn't I write the book myself?) I therefore prefer to
devote most time on the editors' and readers perspectives.
What did the editors set out to do? In their
own words, in the book's Preface, they took as for their challenge the
proposition: "managing electronic records involves multiple roles, an
extensive range of aspects covering the organizational, technical and legal
issues, and ongoing exploration and investigation to achieve and share greater
effectiveness and efficiency. To be successful, these all have to come together
in holistic solutions, at the strategic and operational levels." In their wrap in the final chapter, they
further elaborate these challenges:
- objects that are intangible in an
environment that is virtual and dynamic;
- tools and solutions that are dynamic and
constantly evolving; and
- tools that at best do not give priority
to recordkeeping and at worst create havoc.
In the last chapter, the editors turn authors
and provide an excellent cross-walk between the individual chapters using a
strategic-tactical-operational construct. They also inform us on topics not
easily considered in that construct—ethics and R&D—and show how these
elements are needed to complete the framework needed to play the long-game and
win at it. Finally, they speak to futures.
The editors did broadly fulfill their promise
as complex and multi-dimensional as the vision for the book was described. This
was in no small way because of the tying up in the final chapter. At the same
time, the chapters are so rich in content and so well written that the book
would be a keeper simply as a collection of winning essays on electronic
records.
What would likely readers expect? How do I know this? I don't, but I will postulate and hopefully stimulate further discussion by touching on two ways for thinking about this that may lead to conclusions about how readers will set their own expectations for this book—a) a sampling of other books with similar titles on the broad aspects of managing electronic records; and b) an indicative list of findings that recently have been identified and published in a U.S. federal interagency study on barriers to effective electronic records and the findings of a survey of U.S. and international users' attitudes about that study.
A
few of the recent offerings on electronic record include: Effective Approaches for Managing Electronic Records and Archives,
Bruce W. Dearstyne, Ed., 2002; Managing
Electronic Records, 3rd Ed., by
William Saffady, 2002; Thirty Years of Electronic Records, by Bruce I. Ambacher, 2003; Records Management: Planning for the Electronic Records Archives Has
Improved, by
Linda D. Koonz, 2004; and, 'fast-backwarding',
Managing Electronic Records:
Issues and Guidelines, 1990, one of the first international,
interdisciplinary studies of this subject, produced by the UN Technical Panel
on Electronic Records (1987-1989), which I had the honor of chairing and which
gave me my own baptism of fire in electronic records. Anyone who has read one
or more of these books may come to this one with either the expectation of
finding similar coverage. Hopefully they will also be looking for this book to
fill in gaps in their earlier readings. I think they will discover that it does
add some valuable new information, especially in the areas of human factors and
organizational culture (Laeven, Fuzeau, Ellis); stakeholder building (An,
Ellis); digital preservation (Marciano and Moore, Hofman, Ryan); standards
(Hofman, Cumming, An); legal matters (Stephens, Ryan); R&D (An, Ryan;
ethics and societal issues (Harris) and most especially post-implementation
lessons learned from installed electronic records systems (Fuzeau,
Ellis). Excellent overarching presentations that cover several of these
topics are presented in McDonald's introductory chapter and Laeven's
"Competencies" chapter. Of course, they were interwoven and related
to one another by McLeod and Hare in the final chapter.
One example of an external view
to consider what readers might consider important and thus might look for in a
book on this subject may be found in a recent survey I conducted on barriers to
effective electronic records that was produced by the Electronic Records Policy
Working Group (ERPWG) an interagency group in the
- Records and
information not managed as agency business assets;
- Records
management not viewed as critical to agency mission or incorporated into
automated business processes in a timely manner;
- Marginal
support for records management has led to a lack of training, tools, and
guidance for all staff;
- Poor integration of records management and IT
disciplines;
- Need for
greater and more effective leadership and clear records management
guidance;
- Need to
integrate recordkeeping into Enterprise Architecture;
- Standards to
include recordkeeping compliance in audits and inspector general reports.
One might infer that these are not only seen as issues, but
that readers would like to know more than they are barriers. Why they are
barriers and what can be done to overcome them? On most of these accounts, this
book hits the mark with at least identification of the issue if not remedial
suggestions. It is noteworthy that several of these concerns emerged as issues
in the brilliantly done case studies, reinforcing their importance.
Architecture
In the area of architecture, more is needed in our
professional literature. In the first chapter, McDonald speaks to "records
architecture" independently but preferably as integral to a broader
enterprise information management and IT architecture. I'm not so sure of the
value of an independent records architecture, but certainly records management
must be tightly integrated into the enterprise information and IT architecture
to make for the implementation of a complete, effective and efficient
electronic records system. Trying to deal with records independently may
operate in the other direction. In the last chapter, McLeod and Hare stress the
importance of architecture and infrastructure at the tactical level. If those
chapters constitute the bread in this meal, there is little on architecture in
the sandwich between the slices. Exceptions to this appear, if obliquely, in
Cumming's discussion of metadata and business processes and in Ryan's
observation that the digital preservation function needs to be linked to the
strategic business aims of the organization. Indeed it does, as do other key
recordkeeping functions, not the least of which is electronic records capture.
Architecture is about tightly knitting organizational assets, especially
information and technology, and most especially where business processes are
automated. We need to generate literature that more rigorously addresses
architecture on three kinds and levels: enterprise architecture, information
architecture and technology architecture and how recordkeeping fits in. Leading
recent books in the area of information architecture don't mention technology
architecture and vice versa. Neither mentions recordkeeping as a service within
the architectures. Yet all relate to an enterprise model or architecture.
Standards for Auditing and Compliance
The issue of standards for incorporating recordkeeping
compliance into the audit process was considered crucial by 79% of the
above-mentioned survey. Hofman devotes a welcomed section to this subject in
his discussion of compliance, but much more is needed as increasingly tight
laws and regulations that govern various business sectors (finance,
pharmaceuticals, food, personal-health information, etc.) that may be national
in their origin but are global in their impact since they apply to any
organization wishing to do business in such countries. These events require
recordkeeping to be seen in the context of special laws and regulations. Global
companies failing to take account of such requirements in all countries where
they wish to operate do so at considerable risk.
Implementation
There are few organizations that have implemented electronic records systems, and fewer references to them in books and even fewer appearances of the term "implementation" in indexes. This book stands out in this respect. With two outstanding chapters (10 (Fuzeau) and 11 (Ellis)) devoted to implementation case studies, two others, chapters (2 (Hofman) and 3 (Cumming)), with additional insights in major sections on implementation and another citation on the term in the index, there are some 29 pages citing the term at some level in the index.
In
his review of Bruce Dearstyne's Effective Approaches for Managing Electronic Records
and Archives, Matthew Veatch said,
"[A]s authors in this excellent new collection of essays
make clear, information professionals have developed over the past decade a
variety of effective, context-sensitive electronic records management
strategies." (Review at:
www.archivists.org/periodicals/aa_v65/review-veatch-aa65_2.asp) What we have not
done so well with is implementing those
strategies. Some of the finest writers about electronic records strategy are
academics, especially those leading or teaching graduate ARM programs. While
many universities have implemented or are in the process of implementing
"institutional repository systems," using such systems as DSpace or
Fedora to digitally manage faculty knowledgebases, these systems do not include
the more rigorous functionality required for trustworthy electronic
recordkeeping. Yet, few if any universities have actually implemented systems
to manage their own university records, except on a very limited basis in
support of single business functions or processes. The fact that few university
archivists are involved in teaching programs doesn't minimize that stark
reality.
Despite
almost universal implementations of e-government applications at all levels of
government, government bodies are only slowly moving in the direction of
actually implementing electronic records systems. Local governments seem to be
ahead of other levels of government. Several private-sector organizations have
implemented electronic records systems, some using enterprise content
management approaches. Many of them are unwilling to share this
"competitive information," an interesting commentary on the implied
importance of electronic records in the private sector. The bottom line is a
dearth of completed implementations and related case studies from which to draw
models and lessons learned to help stimulate additional implementations. Not
surprisingly, a posting I made to several ARM professional discussion lists
internationally in connection with this review created enormous interest. At
time of this writing, within three days after my original posting, there were
over 50 on- and off-list communications responding to this thread about the
high level of importance practitioners place on obtaining more information on
actual implementation assessments and the lessons discovered. This book makes a
considerable, considerably important and timely contribution to the literature
in this area that many professionals are obviously starving for.
Ethics (and
Society)
Another salutary contribution of this book is
its inclusion of ethics at the chapter level. As noted earlier, the 'long-game'
vision the editors had included "vision and leadership, awareness and
understanding, the environment and architecture, technical solutions, people
issues and the things to be done." For the Harris chapter on ethics, I
would submit "people and societal
issues, as in fact the editors note as one of Harris' key messages. It is not
only true in this case, but Harris' discussion is an important addition to a
book that is not specifically on the subject of ethics and societal issues.
Ethical and societal issues are subjects typically missing in ARM
practice-oriented books, professional conferences and course outlines that
aren't dedicated to ethics and society. Not everyone who goes for
practice-based books on ARM in general or electronic records in particular is
going to go for books focusing on ethics or society. Many may not readily see
the relationship of ethics to ARM or electronic records. Moreover, ARM
professionals tend to take the societal impact of what they do for granted or
to be presumed as important and look at such issues and cases primarily from a
personal perspective to the exclusion of broader societal perspectives.
According to a "Report on the Society and Archives
Survey that I carried out (at:
www.mybestdocs.com/barry-r-soc-arc-surv-report-030129toc.htm), most ARM
professionals see a near total lack of understanding on the part of society of
the importance of recordkeeping and the special demands of electronic records.
Thus, where the subject is treated alongside other aspects of recordkeeping in
more than a passing manner, as it certainly is by Harris in this book, it
deserves to be noted.
As
for topics I would be looking for in a book with this title, most of them are
there, including the case studies, Hofman's presentation on standards and
Marciano and
Bottom Line
Does Managing Electronic Records deliver what one might expect from the title? In the main it does, and better than others in many ways.
Context
The editors do an excellent job bringing out the relationship of chapters to one another and to their strategy-tactics-operations construct. They also make the chapter links to major cross-cutting electronic records issue areas such as standards, leadership, stakeholder building, and business systems analysis. I believe McDonald is the only other author who makes reference to other chapters in his presentation. ARM professionals should be good at context, beyond talking about metadata and archival description. One might hope for more contextual linking within chapters to others, but that may be asking too much in light of the difficulties of orchestrating the editing of a book like this.
The editors make another excellent contextual
observation when they speak to the use of language in the book when, in the
Preface, they talk about the differences in the use of such fundamental terms
as "recordkeeping" and "records management." In
Structure
(aka, user friendliness)
ARM professionals place more importance on document structure than most people. It is regarded as an essential feature of records. For some of the same reasons, and more, structure is a most important feature of professional and technical books. It may not be as important as their content, but it is in the sense that it is what makes their content usable and hopefully useful. This is because such books are not typically read in serial form from beginning to end, as most novels are. They may be scanned that way to give professionals a good idea of their scope and coverage, but mainly for future reference purposes. However, a principal use of such books is as reference resources. Someone wants to focus in a particular work, teaching or research situation on metadata, or preservation, or standards, or case examples of these things. They want to be able to pick up the books they know address their topic and find quite specific information in a timely manner without reading the whole thing from beginning to end again. The book's structure allows them to do that—well or poorly. It provides what we might call navigation or finding aids and more generally its user friendliness. We know it when it is missing or poorly provided.
Elements of structure that authors may employ to help make their books as user friendly as possible include: table of contents, (high-level or detailed); chapter groupings under super-group headings or parts, an index, footnotes, a bibliography or reference list, and a study guide. A book may have many or all of these things and still not succeed in achieving, as a whole, a generally user friendly product; because it is possible and not uncommon for these things to be done poorly.
Particularly because the mapping of chapters in this book is mainly addressed in the final chapter, it would have been helpful for the table of contents to attempt to group chapters according to their place in the strategic-tactical-operational framework with the R&D and Ethics chapters as peers to those framework sections. It wouldn't be perfect because of the cross-cutting nature of some of the chapters, but it might help the reader to make a decision to buy and read or not.
Index
The index of a book that is going to be used for quick reference is a very important aspect of book structures its own right. It is even more important with an unstructured TOC such as this book has. This makes it a critical component of the book's success or lack thereof. Yet, index creation is typically done by the publisher with little input from authors. When the index is not up to par, it is very evident to the reader. This book does about par with its index in very simple terms of the ratio of index pages to substantive pages expressed as a percentage. Using this measure, its index ratio is 7:193 or about 3.6%. This compares on par with Kahn and Blair's Information Nation Warrior: Information Management Compliance (2005), 8:220 or 3.6%; and more favorably with Dearstyne's Effective Approaches for Managing Electronic Records and Archives (2002), 2:160 or 1.3%. It compares less favorably with Cox and Wallace's Archives and the Public Good (2002), 14: 317 or 4.4%. Contrasting from another field, Thomas Erl's Service-Oriented-Architecture: Concepts, Technology, and Design (2005), has a ratio of 34:713 or 5%, and that book has a 16-page, four-tiered, highly structured TOC that makes it easy to find things. The book was written by one author, even with research inputs from others; but it is clear that the author devoted a considerable amount of time and thought to the TOC and index.
I observed numerous occasions where topics were
covered in the text but not in the index. For example the term
"architecture" appears once in the index but in at least five places
in the text that I observed. Similarly, Harris speaks to many subjects other
than ethics, but suffers in the index with 20 references classified in two
index terms: "ethics" and "
Citations and Bibliographies
The editors and other authors provide a rich set of references cited in the chapter texts. The editors offer a very innovative approach in providing URL references in the book that I have not observed before. "To save readers having to retype the website addresses quoted in the text, a complete list of URLs is available on a companion website to the book at: http://www.facetpublishing.co.uk/managingelectronicrecords" that redirects to: http://www.facetpublishing.co.uk/managingelectronicrecords/index.shtml
The idea is exceptionally good and provides a considerable service for readers and an innovative integration of print and Web media. It will become an even greater and more useful innovation if the editors make arrangements to regularly test the URLs to ensure that the links remain hot and to update them when they change or disappear. It might be wise to place this page on a university or other Website. I do have experience with Facet Publishing but, from experience with other publishers, I know that their own pages are subject to unannounced URL changes and page deletions.
For the best reading experience, recognizing that many will not read this book in a single sitting—I didn't say it was like a John Grisham or Alexander McCall Smith novel after all—I recommend reading the Preface and Chapter 12 first, followed by McDonald and Laeven before proceeding to the other chapters. This isn't a comment on the best chapters. If it were, Chapters 10 and 11 and others would be high on the list. Rather it is my opinion on the best sequence of chapter reading. Chapter 12 is logically and very appropriately placed where it is in the book as an excellent wrap, much as might be done if these were papers presented at a conference. However, especially for the uninitiated, it will ease the reading experience of other chapters if Chapter 12 is read early on.
While there is much gnashing of teeth about the low priority, low resourcing and low status of the ARM functions in organizations, there is little ownership of why that is so. Much of it is due to the fact that professionals in the ARM field have been singularly unsuccessful in communicating adequately to their own executives about what they do and its importance. Too much is said about "the mandate" for ARM and too little about the business case for it. This book offers some excellent communications that could be effectively used as a short-term way of addressing that problem. My guess is that if executive read even the Preface and Chapter 12, they would soon find themselves doing some non-linear dipping into the other chapters. They might even steal themselves ultimately to read the whole book given that one of its other attractions is that it comes in under 200 pages—quite an achievement in itself for the level and quality of content it contains.