AREA and the original ARMA (American Records Management Association)
collaborated to form a certification function in 1975; which is the
ICRM. Subsequently, AREA and the original ARMA merged to become the
current ARMA.
Here is some history (I am no longer on the Board of the ICRM):
Origins of the Institute of Certified Records Managers
Steven D. Whitaker, CRM
ICRM Regent - Legislation and Appeals
The Institute of Certified Records Managers (ICRM) is an international
certifying organization of and for professional records and information
managers. The ICRM was incorporated in 1975 to meet the requirement to
have a standard by which persons involved in records and information
management could be measured, accredited and recognized according to
criteria of experience and capability established by their peers.
The ICRM is an independent non-profit organization administered by a
Board of Regents (the Board) in accordance with the Constitution and
By-laws of the Institute. The primary objective of the ICRM is to
develop and administer the program for professional certification of
records managers, including certification examinations and a
certification maintenance program. The ICRM serves as the official
certifying body for the Association of Records Managers and
Administrators, International, (ARMA International) and the Nuclear
Information Records Management Association (NIRMA).
To understand why the Institute of Certified Records Managers was
established, we must first learn about the early records-related
professional associations.
The Warren Filing Association was founded in Chicago in 1917 during
World War I. The Chicago Filing Association was established in 1932.
Several of the chapters consisted primarily of file personnel. The
Records Management Association of Chicago was incorporated in 1952.
The Filing Association of New York was founded in 1920 in New York
City. In the early 1950s the organization was renamed as the Records
Management Association of New York, which was incorporated in 1955.
Twelve records managers in New York formed the Association of Records
Executives and Administrators (AREA) in 1955. At that time, some
believed that the other records-related organizations were centered too
much on filing and retrievals, and not enough on the management aspects
of records. AREA membership increased steadily, and other chapters were
chartered in the mid 1960s.
The American Records Management Association (original ARMA) was
established by Jack Britt, records manager of Ford Motor Company. Mr.
Britt organized the original ARMA by bringing together a number of
chapters from the Records Management Association of Chicago, and from
the Records Management Association of New York. In 1957, the Records
Management Association of Chicago was reincorporated as the Chicago
Chapter of the American Records Management Association.
The Canadian Federal government initiated records management
legislation through the Public Archives of Canada in the 1950s. This
directed that every federal department establish a standard Records
Management Program. In the 1960s a federal Records Management Institute
was formed to work in conjunction with the National Archives.
Early Canadian chapters established in ARMA include Montreal (1968),
Toronto (1969), Vancouver (1970), Ottawa (1971), and Edmonton (1975).
In 1972 the original ARMA produced and distributed a brochure
announcing that a certification program by examination would be
established. The principal motivation for certification was to
establish a strong professional standing, raise the professional level,
and to recognize that a person certified as a records manager had broad
professional experience in the field. An ARMA committee was established
to develop the certification process. Olive Surgen was chair, and
Charles Garrison, David Goodman, and Mary Robek were some of the
original members. The first examination was given in the Fall of 1974,
with disastrous results. None of the candidates taking the examination
passed.
Some Association of Records Executives and Administrators (AREA)
members felt that the certification would be limited to members of ARMA.
A decision was made to develop a separate and completely independent
certification organization to represent both ARMA and AREA. The
American Records Management Association and the Association of Records
Executives and Administrators each appointed five members to the unnamed
certification organization. Thornton Mitchell, Stanley Gordon, Bill
Benedon, Mary Robek, and Bill Rofes were appointed as representatives by
the American Records Management Association. Joe Pomrenze, Ruth Thomas,
Kay Mutchler, Dudley Judd, and Mark Koenig were named to represent the
Association of Records Executives and Administrators.
Bill Benedon and Thornton Mitchell were assigned the task of drafting
by-laws for consideration by the Board. Thornton reported that Bill
developed the draft. The committee members, plus Ben Oliver, Charles
Garrison, and David Goodman met for the first time in New York on
January 6 and 7, 1975. AREA President Ben Oliver presided at the
meeting. ARMA President Gerry Brown was supposed to co-preside at the
meeting, but was not able to attend. The group examined the Benedon
draft by-laws almost word for word. Ruth Thomas had been designated
secretary pro-tem and both she and Bill Benedon took notes. Thornton
Mitchell also took notes. Ruth and Bill met until late in the evening
(about 2 AM) to develop a version of the by-laws upon which the Board
could take final action on the next day. On several occasions that
evening, Thornton Mitchell was called upon to meet with them. Ruth then
developed a "final" draft version of the by-laws.
On January 7, the Board met again, reviewed and approved the by-laws
with some modifications, and established fees and annual dues. Officers
were elected. Bill Benedon was nominated for President but declined
because he had been asked to serve as Program Chair for the next annual
ARMA meeting. Bill Rofes was then elected President, Joe Pomrenze was
elected Vice President, Ruth Thomas was elected Secretary, and Thornton
Mitchell was elected Treasurer. The original by-laws called for the
leader's title to be Chairman, but Mary Robek reportedly objected that
the title was sexist. Thornton Mitchell objected to using the term
Chairperson to designate the leader of the ICRM, so the title on his
motion was changed to President.
Joe Pomrenze suggested naming the organization the Institute of
Certified Records Managers. It is believed that the Board referred to
themselves as "Regents" because both ARMA and AREA had Boards of
"Directors."
There were no major disagreements among members of the group. An early
agreement was that there would be two initial means of certification-by
examination and 'by review', which was the term applied to
certification on the basis of review of the candidates' education and
specific professional experience. The draft by-laws proposed that
candidates by examination and review would be required to have a college
degree. There was some disagreement on this point. The U.S. Civil
Service standards at that time both for archivists and analysts
permitted the substitution of two years experience for one year of
college, and eight years of professional experience was considered the
equivalent of a degree. After considerable discussion, the Board agreed
on either a degree or eight years of professional records management
experience as a requirement. The Board had no difficulty in agreeing on
three years of professional experience as a prerequisite to take the
examinations. The board also agreed that the experience had to be
gained in multiple areas of records management, and that clerical work
was not qualifying experience.
The Board had no significant disagreement on certification by review.
It was believed that to establish credibility the organization had to
include the best in the records management profession. It was
established that the certification by review would have the most
stringent requirement. Certification by review required ten years of
high-standard professional experience, an appropriate college degree or
eight additional years of experience, and for the candidate to have
published. This is a normal process for new certification
organizations. The certification by review was open for two years. Over
three hundred candidates applied for certification by review, and each
one was individually considered. Two hundred forty seven candidates
were approved by review.
The original agreement between the American Records Management
Association and the Association of Records Executives and Administrators
provided that the first ten Regents, Benedon, Rofes, Mitchell, Pomrenze,
Thomas, Gordon, Koenig, Robek, Mutchler, and Judd would be automatically
certified. The ten Regents agreed, in order to avoid criticism, that
they would each qualify for certification by review.
The ICRM Board of Regents met for the second time in Washington D.C. in
March of 1975. At that time the first certifications by review were
approved. One early disagreement involved certifications by review for
Records Management educators. The disagreements were resolved by
requiring submissions of course outlines and syllabi. The first CRM
examinations were administered in the fall of 1975. It is reported
that when Bill Benedon became Vice-President, the ICRM Board turned
their full attention to improving the contents of the examinations.
The ICRM Board voted to incorporate in North Carolina. Thornton
Mitchell managed the process and was helped by friends who worked in the
Office of the NC Secretary of State. The total cost of incorporation
was $28, including recording fees. Thornton continued on the Board as
the ICRM Treasurer until the end of 1978.
The American Records Management Association and the Association of
Records Executives and Administrators merged in 1975 and became the
Association of Records Managers and Administrators (ARMA), as it is
still known today. The need for a records management professional
standard and a certification organization brought two professional
associations together, as well as establishing the ICRM.
In 2005 the Institute of Certified Records Managers celebrates its
Pearl (30th) Anniversary. The ICRM has over eight hundred fifty
members, and there are 724 candidates in various stages of the testing
process. The membership is served by eleven voting Regents and
Officers, one non-voting Senior Board Advisor, and by numerous dedicated
CRM volunteers. The ICRM is the official certifying body for the
Association of Records Managers and Administrators, and the Nuclear
Information and Records Management Association. The ICRM is currently
discussing providing certification services to several other records and
information management professional associations. The ICRM is also
developing plans to offer the certified records managers' examinations
in languages other than English. To learn more about the ICRM,
reference the ICRM's web site at http://www.icrm.org.
NOTE: Mr. Thornton Mitchell, CRM, (deceased) provided some historic
information for this article. A very special thanks and appreciation to
Mr. Mitchell for his efforts.
Best regards, Steve
Steven D. Whitaker, CRM
Records Systems Manager; City of Reno
>>> [log in to unmask] 3/20/2007 11:08 AM >>>
I'm working on a couple of presentations on Vital Records and came
across a publication in our office from the Department of Defense
dated
July 1966. It is entitled "Protection of Vital Records" - A special
report by the Association of Records Executives and Administrators,
Inc.
(AREA). The publication was part of the Industrial Civil Defense
program for DOD's Office of Civil Defense.
Does anyone know if AREA is:
Is this an early name for ARMA?
Was it a group that then merged with ARMA?
Something totally separate that is no longer around?
Any info appreciated.
Carrie Fager, CRM
Records Management
Louisiana State Archives
Phone: (225) 925-7552
Fax: (225) 922-1220
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