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

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 should be abolished. Portions of the Act dealing with public use reporting should be incorporated into the new NIA legislation referenced above. The public use reports management function in OMB should be transferred to NIA and placed in the governmentwide records management program.

At first glance, the proposal might seem outrageous. Yet it is really not that radical at all. As far back as 1955, the Second Hoover Commission recommended that a Paperwork Management Service be established separate from the Archives. That is radical! As we have proven for almost 12 years, separation, of any type, is a terrible idea.

The information management legislation of the last quarter of the 20th century has been a records management disaster. One law is based on the erroneous assumption that information is synonymous with media and machines, and another focuses on separating the inseparable-dividing the archives and records management functions. If the situation were not so serious, it would be laughable-George Orwell collaborates with Lewis Carroll.

If we are to cross the threshold to the 21st century successfully, this all must change. We must recognize that papers, films, and magnetic disks are not information. We must recognize that personal computers, COM cameras, and optical disk readers are not information. And we must understand that it is within records-and ultimately within the records that become archives-that information is to be found.