Great question, Bryant!
Perhaps "electronic" was needed at a time when 1) the management of physical records was well understood and the practices were codified and standardized, but 2) the management of electronic records seemed more ambiguous or amorphous. While it is true that the content makes the record, 18 years ago when MER started, RIM practitioners and theoreticians needed to develop new skills and understandings to deal with the new forms and carriers of content.
Perhaps now we enter a post-electronic era where both forms are understood and well managed. I see a continuum for records where the chosen medium is appropriate for the retention and use of each record: Sometimes that is electronic, and sometimes it is physical.
As for the conference, well, MER is a pretty good brand name. And yes, you should attend sometime.
Gordy
Gordon E.J. Hoke, CRM
http://PositivelyRIM.blogspot.com
-----Original Message-----
>From: Bryant Duhon <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: May 19, 2010 2:12 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: "Electronic" Records Management
>
>As I was noticing the occasional tweets from the MER conference, I started
>wondering -- why is the "electronic" needed in between "managing" and
>"records"? (This isn't a crack at Bob Cohasset or the conference itself,
>which I've always wanted to attend.)
>
>We're a good 15 years into the realization that electronic documents,
>emails, blogs, maybe even Tweets are all records. As I've learned over the
>years (from many of you in fact), the content makes the record a record. The
>container is (somewhat) irrelevant.
>
>And, yeah, we're guilty of it too. AIIM has both the "Electronic" RM
>programs and the Electronic Records Management community as well
>(www.ermcommunity.org).
>
>So why is that "Electronic" still needed?
>
>Is it just a habit now or is there still a mindset that the only real
>records are ones you can put your hands on, not bits and bytes accessible by
>fingers on a keyboard?
>
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