Bruce,
Yes it may be true I can see the future. I could tell you but then I
would have to...
The Archivists that want to keep everything lack this talent. (the best
one I heard was the IT guy that wanted to keep every version hardware
and software).
"The archivists' primary role is to organize (2% to 5% of volume,
depending on the organization) whatever the business user provides them.
They are in essence at the end of the document food chain."
Historically this statement bears out. However, in the modern age of
electronic records we need to have archival knowledge as close to the
point of creation as possible. The inability to identify and tag
archival records soon enough is one of our future problems (ok so its
one now, just not enough folks screaming about it yet).
But yea, the Archivist does not dictate business process.
Chris Flynn
-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of White, Bruce
Sent: Friday, November 11, 2005 2:11 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: University RM Question
On November 09, 2005 Maarja Krusten said:
>As people on this List have said, records management involves
"predicting
>the future."
Maarja, you may be confusing listserves. I've reviewed past postings
and
haven't come across any records manager implicitly stating this. As a
records manager (20+ years experience) I have a hard enough time
predicting
this week's football picks let alone what someone cares about 20 or 30
years
down the road. :>)
Now archivists, that seems to be a different story. They appear to have
the
ability (or so I have been told) of predicting what historians and other
researchers will be looking for, say 25 or 50 years from now. Some
archivists I've come across who (I assume are not as good of
forecasters)
believe we should keep everything because there could be someone in the
future who might want it for a study, book, research project, etc.
Now back to the original question. As a records manager, I would
consider
the archivists (as with all parties involved) views as it relates to the
retention of the records. But they should not be dictating format or
filing
system; that's the responsibility of the business user(s) with (I hope)
advice from the records manager. The archivists' primary role is to
organize (2% to 5% of volume, depending on the organization) whatever
the
business user provides them. They are in essence at the end of the
document
food chain.
My own experience is that if a filing system (whether paper or
electronic)
doesn't meet the business users' needs they won't use it. If that's the
case, why have one at all.
My opinions my own...
Bruce L. White, MBA, CRM, PMP
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