Dear colleagues, Aussie and American alike: One of the first things I
learned when I started consulting in Australia about 10 years ago was that the
terms "disposal" as used in Australia is equivalent to "disposition" as used in
the US, i.e., as Marita Keenan has noted to reflect any kind of disposition,
not just destruction. It was at first confusing to me because in US those terms
have different meanings, the term "disposal" at least in recordkeeping
circles and to a large extent beyond, being equivalent to destruction. While I'm
sure there are exceptions, I was also told that the term "disposition" really
isn't used at all widely in Australia. It is similar to the use of the term
"recordkeeping" which as I understand it has a much broader (and I think more
correct) connotation embracing all aspects of archives and records
management, than it does in the US, where the term is used much more narrowly. Yet, I
gather that the US got its way with the term as it was used in ISO15489. (I'd
be interested to learn if others have a different understanding of that.) I
think it comes from the traditional US life cycle approach that makes great
distinctions between so-called "current" and "permanent" records than is the
case in the Australian continuum approach, even though the Australian AS4390
standard was the basis for ISO 15489.
As to the substance of the original question about the appropriateness of
"disposition management," I personally think it is a much more preferable term
for a couple of reasons. As noted earlier, retention schedules include
dispositions other than destruction. But beyond that, especially with electronic
records, not just using the term "disposition" but actually making disposition
schedules include other than just recordkeeping schedules or, as a minimum
providing the wherewithal to do so at a later time. In scheduling records, why
should we take a narrow view that only recordkeeping concerns be addressed?
Why not a broader organizational perspective that includes such dispositions
as HSM (hierarchical storage management), knowledge management, security
classification downgrading, security declassification, FOI, etc.? This approach
could have a number of advantages. It could help to get other parts of the
organization to schedule documents in a manner similar to the way that they are
scheduled for recordkeeping purposes. Harmonizing the various interests in
scheduling records could also reveal contradictions that need to be addressed,
including cases in which other parts of the organization may be retaining
electronic records inconsistent with the law, e.g., if certain records are
scheduled by law for recordkeeping purposes for say 3 years while people dealing
with content in the organization's KM system are maintaining them indefinitely.
It also lets the rest of the organization know that RM professionals are
interested in a more holistic approach to CM/DM/RM and might help to make more
allies with other scheduling interests in the organization. If a large part of
records management is about control of records, it would seem that such an
approach would be very appropriate.
Regards,
Rick Barry
_www.mybestdocs.com_ (http://www.mybestdocs.com)
Cofounder, Open Reader Consortium
_www.openreader.org_ (http://www.openreader.org)
In a message dated 6/8/2005 12:06:28 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 08:10:40 +0800
From: Marita Keenan <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Nitpicky Terminology Question
Oh dear Glen
As an Aussie I have to say that I do intorduce the term disposition when
training and point out that it means not only destroy but any action to
remove it from the organisation the most obvious being deposit in a formal
(e.g. government) archive. However, I do agree that it is not commonly used
but I think, from a training perspective, that upcoming records managers do
need to be aware of the term and its correct meaning.
Cheers
Marita Keenan
Alchemy Knowledge Solutions
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Suite 7 / 100 Mill Point Rd.
South Perth W.A. 6151
M: 0417 096 703
Tel/Fax 61 8 9447.7782
www.alchemyknsolutions.com
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