Sorry to belabor this point, but if it is removed from our literature
and training, then what are those smaller organizations to do?  Where
will they get the information to do a job that has been "dumped" on
them.  After all.... Who chose to be a Records Manager?  For most of us,
it was a job that needed doing, so we did it.  And we were happy to get
information wherever we could.  Are we now to cut that off from the
people that follow?  ARMA is an association that was originally formed
to educate.

Yes... "the times they are a changing" and we have to keep up, but the
education should not be replaced.... It should be added to.

GT

Graham Kitchen
Corporate Records Manager
Unified Western Grocers
5200 Sheila Street
Commerce, California 90040
Telephone:  (323)264-5200 Extension 4560
Cell:  (323)243-1865
email:  [log in to unmask]  

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Records Management Program 
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Larry Medina
> Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 9:09 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Should Mail be Part of Records Management?
> 
> On 4/20/06, Graham Kitchen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > Wow!! This simple question has set of a real fire storm.
> 
> 
> Well said, and I think I'd like to add a bit of qualifying 
> information about
> the question, why it was asked and what the intent was. As 
> many of you know,
> ARMA is in the process of developing a set of RIM 
> Competencies and this
> issue came up in that Project. Just like not all RIMs are 
> responsible for
> microfilming, imaging, library services or archives 
> management, they're not
> ALL responsible for mailroom operations.... but some are.
> 
> But I think we are forgetting that Records Management is managing the
> > information from creation/collection to final disposition.  This
> > includes Mail Management on the collection end, Forms 
> Management on the
> > creation end (and along with this Procedures Management, 
> because when
> > you do the analysis on the form you know the procedure 
> requirement), and
> > if imaging at the collection point has been found to be the 
> most logical
> > point, then so be it.  If  this works for your 
> organization.... great.
> > If not... don't do it.
> 
> 
> This pretty much sums up the "why" it was asked... there is 
> RIM and there is
> RIM, and depending on the size of your organization, your RIM Program,
> organizational alignment, functions you provide and responsibilities
> associated with RIM for your situation, there is no perfect answer.
> 
> The intent was to determine (from a broad spectrum of RIM
> Practitioners/Professionals) WHAT IS REALLY happening in the current
> situation in RIM.  And I can tell from the responses received 
> thus far, as
> much as many of the newer RIMs may want to distance 
> themselves from the
> function as much as possible, those of us who are a bit "longer in the
> tooth" in this field know that it was once considered an 
> integral component,
> as much as forms management and policy and procedure 
> distribution were.
> 
> If you look at all the classic texts related to RIM, it's 
> there.... and as
> indicated in one post yesterday, if you take the ICRM exam, 
> it's there...
> and there in some pretty heavy detail. That said, neither of these are
> indicators that IT SHOULD REMAIN THERE.  I'm sure there are plenty of
> opinions that it should be removed, and as soon as possible, 
> but maybe more
> importantly, it should be brought current to address issues of
> capture/scanning of incoming mail, assisting in the 
> development of e-mail
> storage and retention policies, developing classification systems for
> indexing of e-mail (by content) to determine appropriate 
> retention periods
> and other aspects of "managing incoming information sources" 
> rather than
> mail management and mailroom operations.
> 
> There are very few absolutes in Records
> > Management.
> 
> 
> ABSOLUTELY!! =)
> 
> It depends on budget, personalities and corporate culture. You have to
> >  take what works for you and your organization and run with it.
> >
> 
> True... and if you're a company of 50-100 with one person who is the
> receptionist, file room manager, mail service, copy room, 
> etc., that that's
> the "corporate culture" you live in.  Records and Information 
> Managers and
> their "departments" come in all shapes and sizes... some 
> organizations don't
> even HAVE Records Management as a function on their org 
> charts (GASP!!!)
> 
> But for those that do, it would be nice to know if you are 
> responsible for
> the handling of incoming and/or outgoing mail and if you are, what
> skills/knowledge do you feel is required to appropriately operate that
> function?  And, do you feel that this is a "competency" that 
> should exist in
> an RIM's toolkit.
> 
> Larry
> --
> Larry Medina
> Danville, CA
> RIM Professional since 1972
> 
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> 

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