In the eight years I have been on the ICRM Board we have considered these type of suggestions several times (graduate degree, degree in RIM, degree in I/T, etc). Each time the Board declined to change the educational accomplishment/professional experience matrix for approval to become a candidate. The sense of the Board each time was that a CRM must have a modest amount (at least 3 years) of well-rounded professional RIM experience before being accepted as a candidate for the CRM certification. The ICRM has, for 30 years, required that a CRM must have broad professional RIM experience, and be very knowledgable and capable in the profession. Education and professional experience must be proven and documented to be approved as a CRM candidate. The exams and case studies measure the candidates' knowledge and capability.
By the way, the Board changes composition nearly every year. I am going off the Board the end of this year after 8 years, the next senior member has 4 years experience on the Board. My point is that the Board is not a bunch of RIM CRM curmudgeons who have been there forever. Not at all.
To toss in some additional information for the listserv audience...
The ICRM was incorporated in early 1975 to meet the requirement to develop and maintain a standard by which persons involved in records and information management could be measured, accredited and recognized according to criteria of experience and capability established by their peers. The ICRM sets a standard. Sometimes we are a target; but we do maintain our standards. No apologies offered for that.
Now, down off the stump...; gently because my knees are not what they used to be...
Please note that in this communication, not once did I state that Bruce White PMP, CRM, is the ugliest dude in the circus, is a drunk, or speaks too loudly.
Best regards, Steve
Steven D. Whitaker, CRM
Records Systems Manager; City of Reno
>>> hawthorn49 <[log in to unmask]> 10/20/05 08:31AM >>>
Sue Myburgh said Â"Actually, I do know how the CRM works: it is precisely my point that it is not an educational qualification, and it not based on a body of theory and research that is the hallmark of professions. It tests how practitioners practice . . . most professionals gain their professional education at a university first, before getting the assurance that they practice their profession according to the standards that are demanded.Â"
The ICRM certification process could include an alternative allowing an advanced degree such as an MLIS or MS in information science to substitute for one or two years of the experience requirement. The Academy of Certified Archivists has such an option, acknowledging the value of graduate education. As it stands, only undergraduate work contributes to accreditation as a CRM. Academic institutions do not have much incentive to offer RM graduate programs because their degrees are not valued sufficiently by the RM community. Until academia is more engaged with RM, the Â"body of theory and research that is the hallmark of professionsÂ" will be inadequate.
My MLIS program specialized in archival administration, and I studied taxonomy, classification, and filing systems; indexing and abstracting; preservation of materials in all formats; vendor relationships and contracts; government information sources (how to research laws); and theory of archival administration including records management. Other course options were metadata, databases, information architecture, networks, web development, and information policy. Surely these types of classes provide a background that would make an MLIS graduate immediately productive in records management. The up-through-the-ranks method is not the only way to grow a modern records manager, and ICRM needs to recognize graduate education as a basis of professionalism.
Janet Kerschner, MBA, MLIS, CA
Chicago-area archivist/RIM wannabe
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List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
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List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
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