I look forward to reading Mr. Macknet's thesis, but thought I would share a
few thoughts before I do.  My interaction with end-users leads to me to
believe when it comes to their core functions, e.g. processing payroll,
interviewing prospective employees, purchasing etc. they like to have some
latitude and feel empowered to make decisions.  When it comes to what they
perceive to be non-core functions (records and information management) they
just want you (RIM staff) to tell them what they need to do - they are
hungry for guidance, from the fundamentals of boxing up paper records for
storage to what is perceived as the more complex, like cleaning up shared
drives.  Just a few thoughts...

Blake E. Richardson, CRM
Safeway Inc.
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On Tue, May 1, 2012 at 5:07 PM, Dwight WALLIS <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Ms. Hardiman, thank you for sharing Mr. Macknet's these with us. For those
> not involved in the previous discussion, David Macknet has authored a PhD
> thesis  entitled 'Decisions to delete: subjectivity in information deletion
> and retention."
>
> http://theses.gla.ac.uk/3286/
>
> I would like to direct folks to the last two paragraphs of Mr. Macknet's
> findings, on pages 145-146 (pdf pages 152-153). In this, Mr. Macknet
> recommends further research into user customizable interfaces with
> enterprise, or shared systems (my gross over-simplification, not Mr.
> Macknet's).
>
> Not too long ago, our Security Officer said something which really struck a
> nerve with me regarding the increasing amount of power we are putting in
> the hands of end users, without any ability to centrally control the
> information generated. Earlier in the thesis, Mr. Macknet notes that users
> willingly engage in "organizing behavior", generally using the basic tools
> at hand. Interestingly enough, this coincides with a large user survey we
> did some time ago regarding issues that users are concerned about - a
> desire to better control and organize electronic information was one of the
> more prominent themes (and forms the basis of much of our current
> electronic records management training, which has received quite positive
> feedback).
>
> I would draw some conclusions from this (my own phrasing of  conclusions
> based on my own experience and to a certain extent what I glean from Mr.
> Macknet's thesis - I don't want to speak for Mr. Macknet, who certainly
> needs no help from me!): (a) Users appreciate the capabilities some
> technology gives them to better perform their jobs. (b) That technology may
> emerge with increasing rapidity depending on user needs and rates of
> adoption. (c) Users want to organize the information (records) generated by
> their use of technology in ways that are meaningful to them. (d) Users want
> to "do the right thing" in regards to enterprise policy (our own
> information gathering has shown this, although Mr. Macknet has raised some
> important questions about my assumptions in this regard). (e) Users balk at
> central control structures for various reasons (some of which Mr. Macknet
> outlines).
>
> How do you control an environment of increasing individual empowerment? I
> would say simply: you make people's lives easier and save money. You create
> an environment where people see that control to their benefit. What would
> such an environment look like? Potentially different for every user - an
> environment where the means of control are in their hands, and defined by
> their needs, yet at the same time "does the right thing" for the group and
> enterprise.
>
> I think Mr. Macknet, in the paragraphs cited, offers some interesting ideas
> of what such an environment might look like in the realm of electronic
> records management systems.
>
> I also have to ask the following: can information governance be about both
> control and empowerment, or are the two mutually exclusive?
>
> --
> Dwight Wallis, CRM
> Multnomah County Records Management Program
> 1620 SE 190th Avenue
> Portland, OR 97233
> ph: (503)988-3741
> fax: (503)988-3754
> [log in to unmask]
>
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