Debra, as always, generalization is a dangerous game. Certainly there
were secretaries and file clerks who, as you say, " did nothing more
than what they were told to do". There were also secretaries and file
clerks who, as Ginny said, ran the records system as an absolute
monarchy (ref. the Queen of Hearts in "Alice in Wonderland", whose "one
way of settling all difficulties, great or small, was 'Off with his
head!' she said, without even looking round").

The point is, that if you wanted to set up an effective records
management system at that time, dedicated staffing was ready to hand,
and could usually be relied upon to do " what they were told to do".
Then, as now, training and motivation are key factors in effective
records management (or any kind of management, for that matter).

Today, when everyone short of a "C-level employee" is her/his own
secretary and file clerk, there just isn't enough time, and time
invested in managing records is usually perceived as time subtracted
from "bottom-line activities". And, in an age of economic stringencies
(as we now appear to be), anything that does not contribute either to
quickly increasing income, or to quickly cutting costs is itself cut.

And, true enough, " People for the most part dislike ..... deal[ing]
effectively with all that is thrown at them", especially if they are
primarily responsible for tasks other than records management. I,
personally, remember hating the monthly reports of my microfilm lab,
because they took time away from "real work" (and no, the manager never
got around to explaining WHY these reports had value).

Best regards.

Fred
===================================================================
Frederic J. Grevin
Deputy Commissioner and Chief Information Officer
The City of New York,
Department of Records
Email: [log in to unmask]
Land phone: 212.788.8615
Cell phone: 347.436.5360
Fax:  212.788.8614
www.nyc.gov/records
31 Chambers Street
New York, NY 10007
USA

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