I have to agree with Dwight.  Our totally decentralized, academic freedom loving environment leaves us few options but to try and make the user the "records manager" of their own email.  To do so, we have to make it as easy as possible for them, because if it isn't easy, they won't do it.  They may not do it anyway, but we always have hope.  The only way for us to even begin to win the email conundrum is at the desktop level, helping the employees set up their own filing systems, based on how they do business.  If they do it, it's because they know that they'll be able to find things easier when they need it, or when it's requested through our data practices act.  

Besides, in our environment, most of the email is junk anyway.  We've told them what to keep and given them the authority to get rid of everything else.  

That would probably frighten anyone in a corporate culture.  And for good reason.  

I highly recommend Steve Bailey's book, Managing the Crowd - I don't necessarily agree with everything in it, but I do think we have to start finding new ways to manage the "stuff" coming at us.  It's not black and white anymore, and some of those wonderful tenets we have held most dear for many years in the RIM world will have to change.  

Fondly, 
Susan

Susan McKinney, CRM
Director, Records & Information Management
University of Minnesota
100 Church Street SE
502 Morrill Hall
Campus Mail Code 0263D
Minneapolis, MN  55455
612-625-3497
[log in to unmask]

-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of George Darnell From My Droid
Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2011 3:05 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Email Management: Fifteen Wasted Years and Counting (Steve Bailey) | Practical E-Records

Dwight,
That sounds like David Weinberger's "Everything is Miscellaneous" approach to organization.

Dwight WALLIS <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Carol Choksy wrote:
>We call that a filing system.
>
>Carol, what I am describing is actually better named a tagging system. 
>"File system" implies a container of related records documents. Tagging 
>implies a common set of tags or metadata assigned across platforms.
>
>My message probably did not provide proper context. Right now, I am 
>dealing with a simple fact - a shift from a relatively contained 
>Microsoft universe to a much more complex suite of Microsoft, cloud, 
>open source and SaaS services. These place an enormous amount of power 
>in the hands of users, as well as responsibility (a trend, as we all 
>know, that has been continuing since the PC became widely available). 
>The tools, such as ERM systems, designed to control this expanding 
>universe are either not yet available, in development, or out of reach financially.
>
>At this stage of the game, in my opinion, retention is not the key issue.
>With Gmail, for example, we have a background solution (Postini) that 
>is applying a blanket retention to all emails - a blanket which can be 
>further refined as we move forward.
>
>What is the key issue is the rapid proliferation of large volumes of 
>information on multiple, disconnected platforms. Common to most (not 
>all of these platforms) is some simple method of tagging/naming. My 
>only point is that the concepts of classification, as outlined by 
>Meadke et al, could be useful in training individuals how to apply 
>those tags/names in a manner that is useful to them, in a way that is 
>simple enough for most people to grasp. The combination of personal 
>usefulness, and simplicity, may result in a better personal use of 
>tagging/naming tools across platforms. In my opinion, that can only lead to positive results.
>
>Also, I have to say that I looked at a number sources as well in trying 
>to come up with a simple answer to the question of "what do I call 
>something" - a question that our customers clearly need help with - 
>including a marvelous session on classification given by Charmaine 
>Brooks, CRM, at the 2010 Great NW Region Conference. Most of these 
>sources are dealing with classification on an enterprise level. In my 
>opinion, Meadke et al - a 30 year old text - provided the clearest, 
>simplest guidelines to apply at the personal "tagging" level.
>--
>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]
>
>List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
>Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance To unsubscribe 
>from this list, click the below link. If not already present, place UNSUBSCRIBE RECMGMT-L or UNSUB RECMGMT-L in the body of the message.
>mailto:[log in to unmask]
>

List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance To unsubscribe from this list, click the below link. If not already present, place UNSUBSCRIBE RECMGMT-L or UNSUB RECMGMT-L in the body of the message.
mailto:[log in to unmask]

List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
To unsubscribe from this list, click the below link. If not already present, place UNSUBSCRIBE RECMGMT-L or UNSUB RECMGMT-L in the body of the message.
mailto:[log in to unmask]