Hello List,
  Very rarely do I chime in but I have to at this point.  If you are truly managing the records of a company then I believe you must have a holistic understanding of the operation because you not only inventoried all of the records, but have traced workflows, and read and understand the documents you house or govern so that they are appropriately stored and the metadata surrounding them dictates the business relationships they demonstrate.  To  simply manage records, by throwing them onto a shelf or into a system, sent to you is not records management at any level.  Most of us who truly love records management and promote it within the organizations we work with and for go above and beyond that daily and believe that records management is an integral asset where the executive level looks for guidance and information as to evidence of decisions made in the past that impacted a company so as to learn what could impact the company in the future especially in those organizations apt to merge and acquire often when executives come and go but records management professionals stay.  I think you may have to bite and scratch your way to the big kids table or even piggy back off another organization to get there regardless records management professionals should be there.  Perhaps at times alignment within the organization hinders the philosophy or the jurisdiction records management has or is believed to have, there seems to always be a debate where it should live but regardless of the function being housed in IT, Legal, etc.. capable records management professionals need to make their voices and knowledge of company goings on known.  I think the field of RM has really painted itself into a corner with statements like those below because knowing a company is knowing and understanding it's records and the relationships they define and it is not beyond the scope of a true records manager. 

<<Operating at a global level within your organization requires a holistic understanding of operation. This goes beyond records management and ust be achieved if you are to be invited. 
 

<<Granted it is a little simplistic but there it is.
<<Most of the Records Managers, just as their title suggests, operate at the Manager level. To expect them to leap to the executive level without a lot more experience and mentoring is asking a lot. 

Thanks,
 Amy Harrelson

Amy Harrelson
LCRA
3700 Lake Austin Blvd. 
Austin, TX 78703
Phone: 512.473.3200 X 7453


 

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]