My own take on this article was somewhat different: the writer does not
understand RM. He seems to assume retention without access is OK, as it
meets compliance goals. It's simply a variation on the whole "store
everything forever", usually on backup media, with an added rather crude
element of "retention" added.

A retention schedule can be structured in many different ways that have
meaning to a user, and I agree that retention policies can be structured
in a manner that facilitates their application in electronic
environments. Policy can do this as well as technology. This isn't
records management lite - it may just be records managers using their
toolkit to handle the high volumes in an intelligent manner. But that's
not the only issue of importance in a given record keeping system, and
is certainly not the only issue of concern in records management, as
this author seems to assume. 

The author is writing from a CMS based outlook. This is an interesting
example of an application based outlook seeking to latch onto the
records management solution, often by redefining the records management
need to fit the application. Where this gets surreal is when one
application's emphasis becomes another application's element that
"management is not likely to fund". Regardless, increasingly, records
management is becoming the buzzword to promote a host of application
based solutions. Unfortunately, we are still not at the point where
solutions promoted as records management solutions can consistently be
relied to operate as complete record keeping systems. They may "handle"
retention but not access, access but not retention, reliability but not
retention, etc.... Ergo the effort to redefine the issue - records
management lite. The RM element that the application can handle is the
only one that matters.

Personally I think this is all wonderful. We've gone from records
management is not an issue - period - to everyone now wants to include
it as part of their sales pitch/business plan, lite or otherwise. This
is but one of many signs that our plans for world domination are slowly
bearing fruit. The future is bright indeed BWA HA HA HA HA HA.....

Dwight Wallis, CRM
Records Administrator
Multnomah County Fleet, Records, Electronics, Distribution & Stores
(FREDS)
1620 SE 190th Avenue
Portland OR 97233
phone: (503)988-3741
fax: (503)988-3754
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