Hi all! As an infrequent contributor (but someone greatly appreciative
of the vast knowledge and the generous spirit that lies herein), I have
a question to pose to the list:

 

Why is the term Records and Information Management (RIM) more commonly
used than Information and Records Management (IRM)? To my mind,
information is the parent (records being a subset of information) and
should therefore come first. "RIM" has always felt to me like a term
created with the goal of getting the non-believers to pay more attention
to and have more respect and appreciation for the discipline. Someone,
somewhere decided Records Management would be perceived as being worth
more if it had an "I" in the middle. I don't mean to be disrespectful (I
am a true believer) and I sincerely hope no one takes offense. I just
think that the discipline has evolved rapidly in recent years into
something quite different from what it once was and that many more
changes lie ahead of us. I think it behooves us to take a good hard look
at how we represent ourselves.

 

This is not a trivial issue. It affects how others perceive our value
and how we interact with other key information stakeholders (e.g.,
Information Technology, Information Security) in the course of our work.
I see RIM and IRM as fundamentally different terms, yet you will often
find both used, even in the same paragraph (I have examples), as if they
were interchangeable.

 

I am asking because the company I work for is embarking on a
corporate-wide initiative. Since we have a chance to start with a
relatively clean slate, we are planning to use IRM. However, I'd love to
hear from anyone who shares my interest in the differences between the
two terms and the potential consequences of choosing one over the other.
Or maybe there's an entirely different term that would better express
the work we are doing... Any thoughts? 

 

I'm hoping for a lively Friday discussion :-)

 

Thanks in advance!

Suzanne

Suzanne Mrozak | Associate Director | Global Information and Records
Management

Genzyme Corporation | 500 Kendall Street Cambridge, MA 02142 |
617-768-6549

 

 


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