I am on deadline and getting ready for speaking engagements at ARMA Nebraska
and ARMA Central Missouri this week so I don't have time to address this at
length. However,

<snip> The problem is it isn't the frequency of access that determines how
information should be managed- it's the retention requirement!!
</snip>

I respectfully submit that this is one of the reasons that too many records
managers, and their programs, find themselves marginalized. The entire basis
for records management is the understanding that we cannot and should not
keep everything forever. This is not because of some "retention requirement"
- after all, at least in the US with very few exceptions, an organization
that keeps everything forever does in fact satisfy that retention
requirement. However, it completely overwhelms the ability to access that
information in a timely fashion, whether for internal or external audit,
legal requirements, or day-to-day operational issues.

Yes, retention is important. Of course. *Almost* goes without saying. But it
*is* also the frequency of access that determines how to manage information.
Why else are some paper records are stored at folks' desks, some in the
nearby file cabinet, some in the records center, and some at the offsite
storage location of choice?  To overlook that basic fact is to err in the
exact proportion Larry asserts that the "archiving"-focused IT staff does.

Respectfully,

Jesse Wilkins
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