I always find it a bit curious when records managers declare their love of
technology or their hatred of paper records.  As for me I am strongly
committed to the mission of my employer rather than to excellence in
record keeping.  I neither love nor hate technology, paper records or even
metal filing cabinets and card files.  They are all tools to be evaluated
by their ability to support my employer's mission.  Perhaps I am a bit old
fashioned, having come into records managementhood some decades earlier
when net present value feasibility studies were the norm.

To complain that record keeping is adversely impacted by backward thinking
management and inadequate resources strikes me as the tail wagging the
dog.  The only time such criticism is justified, at least in my opinion,
is when alternative investment decisions would have increased the
financial health of the firm.

Thus I am back to my original point -- my commitment is not to excellence
in record keeping but to a sufficiency in record keeping so that all
requirements (business, legal, fiscal) are met with a minimum of expense.
It is not a question of our loves, hates or aesthetic values.  These are
or should be business decisions made for business reasons. When the
financial model is compelling it does not take much effort to convince
management to automate specific information resources.

Dave Gaynon
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