Dear colleagues, 

 

What an opportune subject so close for many heading off to do battle with
their concepts and realities at this years ARMA 2006 Conference in Texas.

 

As one who promotes Classification or more correctly Business Classification
Scheme - BCS this is a subject close to my heart & mind.

 

Can I make a confession? If I could do nothing else in RIM to the end of my
days it would be creating Thesauri, Taxonomies or a Controlled Vocabularies
- CV'S and at the top level the Business Classification Scheme - BCS for
organisations. Why? Because having a Business Classification Scheme - BCS is
the foundation stone of RIM without which any RIM implementation either
physical or virtual will be less efficient to a lesser or higher degree as
against a system that has a quality Business Classification Scheme - BCS in
place to drive its RIM application. Also doing this stuff an IT term held in
high regard by that profession] is one of the most intellectually
stimulating exercise one can be involved in this wonderful profession.

 

Yes, you can see this subject is of the greatest importance in my personal
view.

 

Back to the subject at hand. Creating a Taxonomy in reverse or apply reverse
engineering to the process. 

 

Hell! Why not! If it works then do it.

 

My motto is - Do Not Reinvent the Wheel. Beg, Borrow or Steal [with
profession discretion] and at a last resort purchase or spend your valuable
time creating.

 

Back or reverse engineering a is a desirable part of the process of creating
a Thesaurus, Taxonomy or a Controlled Vocabulary - CV for an organisation
along with additional input by interested parties in an organisation about
what they do and what they call what they do. Only after this process has
occurred and been sifted, reviewed, reviewed & reviewed again can one get
down to the desirable, NO CRITICAL job of creating a Business Classification
Scheme - BCS.

 

Why? Because each organisation is different and does different things in
different ways with different or specific terminology. 

 

OK what am I saying? We need to document what our organisation does in our
terms and vocabulary [enforced corporate wide]. 

 

This is no big secret; this is what ISO 15489 espouses as desirable and I
believe is essential for the successful implementation of RIM systems
irrespective of size or if they be physical or virtual EDRMS system in place
or contemplated.

 

What is a Business Classification Scheme - BCS? Well Google tells us it is:

Definitions of business classification scheme on the Web:

*	A classification system derived from an analysis of business
processes to ensure that the records and their metadata descriptions
accurately represent the business process that created them. The structure
is usually hierarchical and reflects the analytical process as follows: .
first level - the business function . second level - activities constituting
the function . third level - groups of transactions that take place within
each activity. (AS ISO 15489, Part 2, Clause 4.2. ...
 
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=0&oi=define&q=http://www.naa.gov.au/re
cordkeeping/control/tools/appendixB.html&sig=__BJzNMl1b1lGnopjG6UbYazRlSEw=>
www.naa.gov.au/recordkeeping/control/tools/appendixB.html

OK, I'm biased but this is the only singular definition at Google if you use
the Define: as your query header or prefix. Yes, it is from an Australian
resource, the NAA - National Archives of Australia, and why not?

 

There you go, every good story has a happy ending.

 

My 10 cents worth!

I look forward to seeing all of you at the Listserv Party on Saturday night
or on the floor at the ARMA 2006 Exhibition Hall over the next week or so.

Regards, Laurie 

Mr Daniel Lawrance [Laurie] Varendorff, ARMA

Member of the Western Australian Governments - Digital Records Working Group
(DRWG).

Specialist Technical Writer on Records and Information Management (RIM) and
related subjects, available for hire.

Published Articles available @
http://www.records-management.com.au/publications.shtml?laurie- and
<http://www.microfilm.net.au/articles.shtml>
http://www.microfilm.net.au/articles.shtml 

A Records Management Professional, and proud of the fact!

Consultant/Trainer/Tutor/Presenter: Records and Information Management

Imaging and Micrographic Specialist: 31 years experience

You may care to visit our web site @
<http://www.records-management.com.au/> www.records-management.com.au 

 


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