Well, the listserv name says "REC" followed by "MGMT" doesn't it? I'm a
records manager (ex librarian, ex history student), not an archivist. My
team meets defined business needs, not the needs of archivists and
historians. When we've finished with something after however many years,
it's gone.

Technically, because we are in government, for maybe 5% of our records,
'gone' means 'transfer to government archives' - when that's done, legally
they own it, not us, and how long they choose to keep it is up to them,
we're not interested. In several previous jobs (employed or consultancies) I
worked for private sector companies where I asked management if they wanted
a true archive function as well as records management, and the answer was
always 'no'. So for those companies, gone meant gone (and there could of
course be a separate debate about the social value of not having a company
archive).

Hence the importance of the 'review' disposal action. It requires you to
think again, maybe put something back into the life cycle for another round,
or change the disposal action, or whatever. 'Permanent' just means you end
up with electronic or physical stores full of stuff which someone, long ago,
by definition with less information than you have now, decided might be
important, for reasons which may or may not still apply.

And by the way Chris, your spell checker seems to be malfunctioning?

Cheers from a hot and very humid Australia Day in Sydney

Glenn

Glenn Sanders
Australia
0407 187 333
These views are mine alone. They may or may not be those of any
previous or present employers or clients. I don't know. If I'd asked and
they'd agreed, I would have signed it "Harry Peck and Co and Glenn".
Or whatever. But I haven't, so I didn't.

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