Further to Sue's questions and Carol's recent response, my two cents.

What does internationalization mean for you, as North American members?

Not sure if I still qualify as a North American member...and would like to
assert that Canadian members are, by definition, and international aspect of
ARMA.  ARMA's tendency to think of Canada as part of the States is not an
isolated problem in international relations, but it is a real one and most
Canadians will be too polite to reveal how much of a concern that is for
some people.

* Do you think that increasing international membership will assist you?

Yes.

Diversity breeds strength. Diversity of viewpoint, objectively and
thoroughly considered, offers opportunity to bring a rigour to the outcomes
that may be lacking where share views allow for an assumed, and
insufficiently defined, agreement.  You have to work to get agreement when
differing mindsets, mental frames, etc. come to bear.  That's a good thing
(though can be time consuming, tedious, fraught with potential conflict,
etc.).

The experience of others also brings new perspectives.  For example, while
people in North America may moan about having to profile records in order to
capture meta data, this is largely because the older recordkeeping systems
are forgotten.  In Hong Kong, the British Registry model requires
extraordinary manual data entry in book-like hard cover file folders. The
result is meta data in the manual system that North Americans could only
dream of.  Very different approaches to resourcing, etc. are factors, and
these come together to make different equations in the business case than
may be expected (assumed) in N.A.


* Do you think that collaboration between the ICA and ARMA is useful?

Yes, yes, yes.  The ICA's membership population overlaps to some degree, but
in general draws from a more academically rigourous foundation. RM needs
that. At the same time, the ICA members' challenges a=derive in no small
part from their respective RM environments.  Coming to terms with
relationship will be the challenge, there.

Should other similar liaisons be developed, and if so, with whom? With
whomever finds common cause with us.

Yes, I personally believe that cooperation, not competition, is the way to
go.  I also think ARMA's bottom line focus makes that a challenge.  While
every organization must remain financially prudent, a lot of today's
advancements would have remained dreams if a strictly financial analysis had
been carried out.  (A pet peeve is ARMA's seeming inability to look beyond
the complexity and potential revenue issues in group memberships to see
their very significant benefit in attraction of new members and spreading
the message in less developed (in RM terms) parts of the world. That means
everything from rural Canada to Hong Kong

* Do you think that ARMA should become an international umbrella body for
the records profession, or should it remain the US professional association,
leaving another professional association (or association of associations) to
act as an international forum?

Wrong question, IMHO.  ARMA is not the US professional association, unless
the intent is to abandon Canada. Maybe that would be ok as ARMA-Canada could
run fine and remain affiliated, but that is not the case now.  The choices
in relation to internationalism go well beyond ARMA becoming "the umbrella
body". ARMA, IMO, would do well to join the international community and find
its place rather than assume it should stick out a sign and invite the world
"under" the ARMA umbrella.  This question will be read very, very
differently outside the States. It is a question to reflect upon in relation
to what international engagement really means.

* Is internationalization of ARMA important to you?
Yes.

* What does internationalization of ARMA actually mean to you - i.e. what do
you understand by this term?

In my view, it is about coming together on equal terms for knowledge and
experience sharing.  It is about funding creative ways to fund and engage in
collaborative projects for mutual benefit. It is about the challenge of
communication, such that we really have to work at being understood...all
parties do...with the result that ideas are well defined, approaches well
developed, results well informed and delivered. On an ethical level, it is
about working toward an appreciation of information management that
naturally results in accountability and transparency in practice--whether
business or governmental.  I think that is good for human kind and far more
effective, maybe even no slower, than more invasive interventions.

* What role do you think ARMA might play in internationalization in Majority
World countries, where ARMA fees, in US dollars, are prohibitive, and such
members have the same chance of attending an ARMA conference in the US as
flying to the moon?

A different membership model is required to enable RM leaders to practically
build greater understanding and awareness through exposure to ARMA.  For
example, there is zero incentive for anyone to join ARMA in my part of the
world. I cannot delegate my member status and send someone to a conference
at the member rate, I cannot show webinars unless I am physically present,
my organization pays for IMJ that I get included in my personal membership,
but the organization gets no benefit beyond the IMJ for an amount that is
not much different from membership. We lose two days travel going, and one
day returning, from a conference making attendance prohibitive. And, note
this: in some international environments, participation in ARMA activities
may pose particular challenges.  It is common in N.A. for organizations to
pay for memberships, encourage participation in committees and enjoy the
benefit of discounted attendance or travel. In some places, attention to
anti-corruption may deem such benefits as a "personal benefit" to the
employee with risk of bias, conflict or corruptive influence.  Heaps, and
heaps, of red tape ensues with a possible rejection of application in light
of potential misinterpretation or complaint.  Other factors may place into
how international professionals must comport themselves. (For example, I
have had to drop all Canadian memberships, so now am a member of the SAA,
for example, instead of the ACA...things get skewed in unexpected ways.)

Why must we meet only once a year and only in North America. Why can’t we
do what the ICA does and have a meeting on a different continent or region
every year?

Good question, Carol!

* In order to be international, should ARMA allocate funds to the
translation of all documents and publications into languages other than
English, and, if so, which languages?

Caution: some documents reflect solutions appropriate to the US and may not
"attract" beyond.  Others have a more neutral attraction and should be
translated.  As former President, ICRM, I was contacted by people wanting
Spanish language support, French, and German.  Being in Hong Kong now, I
know that Chinese language text would present a huge challenge and an
opportunity. (I disagree that Shanghai is the place to start with China.
That's a huge topic for another day. Simply: stick with Hong Kong where the
frame of reference is rule of law, and that means that a myriad of
assumptions North Americans may have around record keeping are at least in
the same solar system, if not the same planet.)

Which non-English journals do you read regularly?

I'm afraid my French is limited, but periodically I do give ADBS a go, and
the French language material from ICA, Canada's excellent ARCHIVARIA, etc.
My Russian is even worse...but sometimes there is an article or presentation
to be found.  Europe and Asia offer very different understandings of the
record, and the power of recorded information.  It is worth the effort.

Cheers,
John

John James O'Brien, CRM, MLT
Writing in my personal capacity only.
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