In my opinion, much of the discussion of paper use in the office has little
to nothing to do with actual use of records in the office. When you print
something out, are you actually printing a record, or a convenience copy?
Perhaps the issue is one of access, not love of a medium. And anecdotal
data based on user surveys reflecting the personal use of paper, as Tom
noted, do not necessarily translate into actual conclusions reflecting the
use of paper as a medium of record. I think Caroline and John are correct:
the principle barriers to less paper systems relate to start up costs, ROI,
and poor design/support/training, not to culture. I'm a baby boomer, and
the "paperless" mantra has been a steady refrain of my contemporaries since
day one. If these folks love paper so much, why have they been complaining
about it for so long?

What they don't actually love is bureaucracy, pointless procedures, and
poorly designed systems. Give them something that makes their lives easier
and saves them money and they won't care what the technology and medium
used is. And far too many "paper less" systems are as poorly designed as
the paper based ones they replaced. Many times, that becomes clear when the
"paper less" system actually proves to be the "record less" system due to
poor planning and implementation.

-- 
Dwight Wallis, CRM
Multnomah County Records Management Program
1620 SE 190th Avenue
Portland, OR 97233
ph: (503)988-3741
fax: (503)988-3754
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