Hi Everybody,
As a PhD candidate focusing on RM (specifically ERM in the context of eGov development in the Government of Canada) and a RM practitioner responsibly for establishing a full RM program for my employing organization, I'd like to say that peer-reviewed RM journal(s) are a must-have if we want to see the field to advance intelligently and the profession to perform effectively.
As a student interested in RM, I have long been frustrated by the fact that there are no peer-reviewed journals corresponding to it. My PhD research was formulated within the intersection of ERM (particular EDRMS) and eGov; my experience is that it's very difficult to find peer-reviewed journal articles on RM, ERM, and/or EDRMS, but it's very easy to find peer-reviewed journal articles on eGov, which is, at the current stage, only considered an "emerging" discipline. I've never doubted my decision of devoting both my academic and professional lives to RM but I do frequently feel that we, as RM people, have not done enough to fundamentally change the low profile of our profession, which appears to be the no. 1 source of frustration for practitioners.
While I have limited professional experience (1.5 years as a records manager), I understand entirely the difference b/w academic and professional thinking and the difficulties of competing with other business units for financial and human resources to complete basic RM tasks in organizations. However, theories (e.g., the nature of records, its impact on the construction of function-based classification and on the establishment of retention schedules) helped me tremendously in educating the various stakeholders of the RM program for which I, as a single person, am responsible to establish. For the function-based classification, I have talked to each and every individual (or group of individuals if they perform the same business duties) in the organization including VPs, SVPs, and the CEO, asking theory-inspired questions for me to understand their business activities and answering intelligent/legitimate questions for them to understand the RM program, which deals with 95% e-records in both forms of unstructured and structured records. Without the theories I acquired from my master program and the InterPARES project, there is simply just no way for me to carry out the job duties. I also believe that the education given based on theories will set the foundation for me to introduce other elements of the RM program into the organization more smoothly. As a RM person, I'd like very much to report to the RM community not only my experience of applying theories in a real world setting but also the thoughts formulated during the process of application, using the channel of a peer-reviewed RM journal. To me, articles in this journal need not be long but the content should be assessed based on academically acceptable criteria, and writers can learn from the assessment.
I understand that ARMA is for practitioners but I'd like to stress that one difficulty confronting many RM programs is the lack of competene professionals. This is not a new but repeatedly-mentioned problem. As noted by Maedke et al. in 1981, "at present, a critical records management problem is the shortage of competent personnel." Today, at the end of 2009, will anybody here agree that a peer-reviewed journal will contribute to solving this problem?
Thanks for reading.
Sherry Xie
Records Management Coordinator/ Coordonnatrice de la gestion des documents
Canadian Tourism Commission / Commission canadienne du tourisme
Tel/ Tél 604 638 8388
Fax/ Téléc
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www.canada.travel
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________________________________
From: Records Management Program on behalf of Douglas Allen
Sent: Sat 12/5/2009 7:45 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Professional RM Journals
I appreciate the input received by those here on the listserv, and
again....for those who view this one, single issue as among the most
important, I recommend that you provide that input on future surveys or
requests for comment that are provided as a part of ARMA International's
Strategic Planning process. We do have a process, it works, and it drives
us to move forward with plans and projects that meet the needs as expressed
by our members. It takes a bit of time for us to gather, process and
incorporate member desires into our plans...but certainly not an inordinate
amount of time.
Let me be quite clear about one other item.... because we have a planning
process that works well, what ARMA does NOT DO is to change our priorities
mid-stream. We may make changes based on the economic environment, but we
do not simply replace any of the high priorities with something that we see
is passionately desired by either a relatively small number of members or by
an unknown number of members. That approach would not work in any business
enterprise or in any Association, so that's NOT the approach we take.
While listening to (through my readings) this discussion, I note that the
problems and challenges pointed to by those who have made the effort, by
those who have spent the time in such an endeavor.... have not been dealt
with effectively by anyone. Those who have pursued this are among our most
respected former Board members and volunteers - those who have donated
thousands of hours to taking on a leadership role within the Association.
That doesn't make them automatically "correct", but it certainly does get my
attention, and lends credibility to their observations.
Douglas P. Allen, CRM, CDIA+
President, ARMA International
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