Book review: Effectively managing electronic records and archives

Information Management Journal, May/Jun 2003 by Richmond, Heather

Records and information management (RIM) professionals grapple with the constantly growing repository of electronic records that their departments, organizations, and businesses create at a staggering rate every day. "Electronic records" is the topic of many meetings and the theme at numerous conferences, yet the solutions seem to be elusive. RIM managers and archivists tend to be fatalistic when it comes to the issue of electronic records and the unwieldy job of managing them. In fact, many feel that the issue is insurmountable.

Effective Approaches for Managing Electronic Records and Archives, edited by Bruce W. Dearstyne, is a compilation of essays that provides insights, observations, and experiences of experts in the RIM field and addresses the implications for archival programs operating in the current digital environment. The essays provide a window into some innovative concepts and ideas that have been put into practice with surprising results. They also offer advice on how to "customize records and archival programs to fit particular settings and circumstances." If an individual is still looking for the magic bullet or cure-all to his or her electronic records ills, this still isn't it. But "it" doesn't exist, so RIM professionals must start looking at viable solutions, all of which involve work, effort, and partnerships.

One of the concepts, which won't surprise anyone who has worked in the RIM profession for any length of time, is that RIM practitioners are not always involved in the policy development, and this ultimately affects information and its handling practices. However, RIM professionals can make a difference at the implementation stage. RIM managers and archivists possess a great deal of value-added skills to bring to the table and offer the other stakeholders. This essay collection delves into and describes how they might do that. One way is to take full advantage of partnerships, not just with senior management, but also with other like-minded professionals in an organization or respective industry. RIM professionals cannot continue to live in a vacuum and say that the problem of electronic records management continues to elude them. They must wade in, roll-up their sleeves, and do as the contributors to this book have done.

The book explores different aspects of electronic records, from historical, theoretical, practical, governmental, and legal perspectives. Each essay, written by a different author, has something to say that most readers would find interesting, and maybe even thought-provoking. Each RIM professional comes from a different situation at different times in the life cycle of his or her RIM programs. Some are new and want an introduction, a foundation on which to build, while others who have been around for a while and have the foundation are looking for answers to different questions. Both kinds of managers would benefit from reading this book.

While including a variety of authors results in myriad different writing styles, Dearstyne has done a good job of bringing the essays together in a flow that makes for interesting reading. Some of the essay topics include

* the history and evolution of electronic records

* the definition of electronic records within several contexts

* an example of a model guideline for electronic records, along with a means of testing it

* strategic approaches to electronic records through outlining obstacles and opportunities

* government online initiatives in Canada's federal government, which outline the players, business drivers, and intended results

* legal impacts and perspectives of electronic records, which include intellectual property and privacy issues

* effective strategies for managing electronic records

Dearstyne, the editor and a contributor for this essay collection, is a professor at the University of Maryland's College of Information Studies. His editing reflects his extensive state government experience with the New York State Archives and as former executive director for the National Association of Government Archivists and Records Administrators. Four contributors to the book are or have been involved in state-level programs. Timothy A. Slavin from Delaware, Robert Horton from Minnesota, Alan S. Kowlowitz from New York, and Roy C. Turnbaugh from Oregon discuss their own or their states' efforts to establish electronic records programs. Rick Barry, an independent consultant, provides a keen understanding of electronic records management that can come only from someone who has been grappling with the issue for more than 40 years. John McDonald, former National Archives of Canada information professional, offers the only federal government and non-U.S. perspective with his description of electronic records management activities in the Canadian government. Another contributor, Lee Strickland, an attorney serving as a visiting professor at the University of Maryland College of Information Studies, provides insight into several of the legal issues affecting electronic records management.