Ryan:

"Wouldn't the IBM administrative assistant have been keeping every document because there was a hold on records
destruction and -not- because it is a good idea to retain all documents for use in potential future litigation?"

Precisely. What this points out is that it is not only "records" that are called up in litigation. This means that we must manage more than just "records"--we must have policies for all captured information.

"And isn't one major benefit of a records management
program the fact that records destruction can be justified in a court of law?"

Precisely. It also justifies the management and destruction of the things not being defined as "records," including emails harrassing other employees.

Records management policies and procedures are a whole, the sum of all the parts, not just the "records."

Carol E.B. Choksy, Ph.D., CRM
CEO
IRAD Strategic Consulting, Inc.
(317)294-8329

Adjunct Professor
School of Library and Information Science
Indiana University, Bloomington

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