Information management legislation in the last quarter of the 20th century: A records management disaster

ARMA Records Management Quarterly, Jan 1997 by Penn, Ira A

UNIFORM POLICIES AND PRACTICES

OMB is responsible for far more than just public use reporting. Whenever legislation is passed that affects the operation of the Federal establishment, OMB, as the management arm of the government, is supposed to take the lead in explaining how the legislation is to be implemented. In this instance, because the parts of PRA-80 dealing with uniform policies and practices were vague, and because it was realized that policies and practices were at the heart of any information management effort, it fell on OMB to issue direction. In 1985-five years after PRA-80 was passed-OMB issued Circular No. A-130.

Generically titled, "Management of Information Resources," Circular No. A-130 deals almost exclusively with information technology. Anyone reading the document would immediately understand why it took five years to produce. Including the appendices, it is 50 pages longsingle spaced-and epitomizes everything that has ever been wrong with government directives. It contains philosophical platitudes:

"b. Government information is a valuable national resource. It provides citizens with knowledge of their government, society, and economy-past, present, and future; is a means to ensure the accountability of government; is vital to the healthy performance of the economy; is an essential tool for managing the government's operations; and is itself a commodity often with economic value in the marketplace." convoluted language:

"...Agencies shall:

(1) Establish multiyear strategic planning processes for acquiring and operating information technology that meet program and mission needs, reflect budget constraints, and form the bases for their budget requests;. .."

and gratuitous trivialities:

"...The Archivist of the United States shall:

(1) Administer the Federal records management program in accordance with the National Archives and Records Act;.. "

Records management was included in PRA-80 because, as previously explained, reports management is a records management function. But the wording of the Act was so ambiguous it could be interpreted as requiring that far more than just public use reporting be controlled. The Act stated that records management practices and programs were to be "integrated with the information policies being mandated." Because the information policies were ultimately those established by OMB through Circular No. A130, the records management function in the Federal government was subsumed into IRM.

WHAT IS IRM?

If one were to walk into any junior high school, select several students at random, and ask the question, "What is information?", one would get some sort of a logical response. Some might say that information was data; some might say that information was knowledge; and some might even say that information was words or symbols that convey meaning. But in no instance would any 12-year-old with a normal mental capacity say that information was equipment.

And yet the management of information-or Information Resources Management-as it has been defined by "practice" in government, corporate, or academic offices for over twenty years, revolves around the acquisition, operation, and maintenance of automated data processing and telecommunications "equipment"-rather than being focused on the information itself!