I am enjoying this discussion.  Personally, I believe CRM certification
is a personal choice.  I have benefited enormously from having attained
my designation 12 years ago.  Some more comments.

1. <having seen the graduates of what was Dr. Mark Langemo's program at
the University of North Dakota>
        Dr. Langemo put together an excellent program and teaches the
material from a practitioner's viewpoint.  However - he has retired.  Is
the program still being taught?

2. <This to me is a central issue.  I believe that a desirable state of
affairs would be for the ICRM to insist on such prior education at the
very least - whether at vocational or university level. >
        Again - until we have enough accredited educational institutions
offering degrees in RIM, we will have to rely on body of knowledge
through best practice and experience.

3. <Interestingly, in researching the area of education, ARMA staff
found 700 education courses within the U.S. alone.>
        There are currently two main types of RIM education offered in
U.S. colleges and universities. (Dr. Langemo's excellent program aside.)
One is graduate degrees at a limited number of universities, or, more
often, one or two RIM courses as part of an MLIS or other related
graduate degree.  The other, more common, type is a few courses at the
undergraduate level (such as Chippewa College) that results in some type
of "certificate of completion" or inclusion of RIM material in office
management or admin assistant certificate programs at the community
college level.  The latter is usually heavily focused on filing methods
and rules with a smattering of general RIM overviews like Vital Records
or the need for retention schedules.

4. <I have found scattered articles in journals in the fields of
librarianship, information science, organizational management and
information technology.  I have not located a journal that is devoted to
peer-reviewed and refereed articles in the RIM field>
        There are, however, a number of books - including textbooks - on
RIM principles.  Many of the books are the results of research.  And, as
I mentioned earlier, the ARMA Educational Foundation has started funding
research.  I will grant you that the volume of published material and
research does not equal that of other fields such as Engineering or Law.
However, RIM does not have many champions in academia pushing for
research funding at Universities (where most research funding is found).

5. <While some basic knowledge of RIM could be taught in an
academic situation>
        I would like to take this one step further.  I think a course in
RIM principles should be required for a number of degrees - Engineering,
Law, Business, Government Affairs, Public Administration, etc. - just as
Business Law and basic Accounting is now required for these degrees.
This brings some understanding and an awareness of RIM to the managerial
level from the beginning.  It may even trigger an understanding of the
need for RIM programs (and possibly specialists - RIM practitioners) for
every organization.

Ginny Jones
(Virginia A. Jones, CRM, FAI)
Records Manager
Information Technology Division
Newport News Dept. of Public Utilities
Newport News, VA
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