Dear records management specialists!

I am a graduate LIS student currently working on a research paper for a
records management course.  My paper explores the use of controlled
vocabulary in records management (mainly paper, but possibly also also
e-records).  In a strange twist of irony, I have encountered difficulty
defining terms due to the fact that they seem to vary from publication
to publication.  Some of the variants may be due to differences in
American, British and Australian English, but in the end, I have to
define the terms I use in my paper and although I think some varient
terms are in fact the same thing (e.g. classification scheme from a
British publication vs. classification system in an American textbook),
I am not always 100% sure.  So here is my question:  Does anyone out
there have a copy of the ARMA publication, Glossary of Records and
Information Management Terms (2000)?  If so - and I know you are all
very busy, so I hate to even ask, but - could someone send me the ARMA
definitions for classification scheme (if it exists), controlled
vocabulary (ditto) and thesaurus?  Or would this violate copyright law?
It is for educational purposes and I will cite the definitions
appropriately.  I have tried to get a hold of the ARMA publication
myself, but none of the libraries to which I have access have it.
Again, I know you are all busy, but if anyone can help me out, I would
greatly appreciate it.

My research thus far has found few American publications that mention
controlled vocabulary as such.  That said, many RM textbooks stress the
importance of sound, well thought out classification and filing systems
that include rules and procedures for creating and maintaining
consistent labels, names and titles of files and catagories (i.e. a form
of organization-specific controlled vocabulary).  A set of controlled
vocabulary for the entire records management field (like LCSH for
libraries) is perhaps impractical due to the varying functions and
activities of individual businesses, organizations, agencies and other
such enterprises.  However, it seems to me that each particular
organization needs to have some form of consistent and thus controlled
language in order to be able to efficiently and effectively retrieve
files (and for other reasons, but my paper focuses on the use of
controlled vocabulary for the purpose of fast and accurate records
retreival).  Am I on the right track here?  I know ARMA is setting up a
new standards project concerning controlled vocabulary in RIM (see the
ARMA website), but my paper will be due way before the the results of
the task force are published....

Interestingly, I found much more about controlled vocabulary and
thesauri in publications stemming from Britain or Australia.  Any ideas
why or am I just not finding the US material?

I apologize for the somewhat long email and thank you all in advance for
your time and any help/comments you can provide.

Sincerely,
Sally Glasser
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