Oragansing Information, an undefinable activity?

Information organisation, what is it?

It’s a strange term. In that umbrella world of information professionals it is a term which varies depending upon which particular information tribe you belong to.

I tried to define this term for a university paper recently and it gave me a big headache. The reason for this is that most of the academic work regarding information organising tends to focus on a particular part of information organisation.  In other words they tend to focus on the parts and not the whole.  To make matters worse there doesn’t seem to any standards in the definition used across the various fields.  

Not only is this confusing, I feel it is unnecessary. 

I am near to completing masters in Information Technology majoring in Information Management.  Over all it’s been a great course and I’d recommend it to anyone who want to take up a career in Information Management.

However there is one little issue I have with it. Most the Information management units tend to focus more on Library Sciences. Don’t get me wrong I like librarian, some the nicest people I know are librarians, but as a Records Manager, they do kind of talk funny.  

Library and Information management professional thinks about information in a slightly different context as a records manager does. Both are information professionals, both deal with information at all stages of the information cycle. Both need to organise information based on the needs of their clients. This is where both the similarities and the differences between the two professions both converge and diverge.  

It’s a strange paradox of sorts. A Library and a Records Repository look very different to the casual observer. However if you take deeper look you will find that both professions use similar practices. They might use different terms to describe what they are doing, but the principles and practice of organising and managing information are very similar.

You know what? I recon it would be real nice if all these tribes came together and had nice big chat about definitions.

Regardless of what tribe you belong to, all information professional need to be able to organise the information they are responsible for. It doesn’t matter if you’re into information architecture, Classification, information retrieval, Archiving or even controlling documents, you need to have a system in place which allows you to organise your information to your clients needs.

Before an Information Professional even thinks about how they organise their information, they need to understand: who the client is, what the client may be looking for and why the client may be looking for information. Once these three issues are determined, then the Information professional can start to think how information is stored and where the information is located.

The Life of a Corporate Records Manager

Bellow is  a copy of a presentation I did for RMAA now known as RIMPA a couple of years ago about the like of a records manager working in the corporate sector. 

I was looking at it recently and I thought it still has some relevance so here it is.  Oh FYI, for the sake of confidentiality I have XXX & ZZZ  out the names of the organisations  mentioned.

Hello my name is Michael and I’m addicted to Records Management.

This addiction happened to me shortly after I graduated from my Environmental Science Degree in the late 1990’s. There I was a fresh-faced mature aged student trying to make my mark in the world environmental science.  Unfortunately so were about 1500 other fresh graduates in Queensland looking to do the same thing.

I found myself a good Placement Agency and they were finding me some interesting short-term positions as research assistants, & lab technicians. I even had a nice midterm stint a statistician. I was really enjoying the temp life style going from one placement to the next, until the work started to dry up.

After having a month or three off from work, my placement agent at the time rang me up one day and said “how do you feel about records management?” I think I responded by saying “what the hell is records management?” (or something to that effect).

My agent said ”Look it’s not that bad, the money is ok and it will only be for a month or two and by then well find you something more interesting”. I was a tad broke at the time and money sounded like a good thing so headed off to the XXXXX  for my first taste of Records Managements… How bad could it be I was only going there for a month … or two?

18 months later I was hooked to the world of creating files, classifying & attaching documents and moving files from Compactus A to areas B, C & D and then back again. I work up one morning and said to myself “I am a 30 something Environmental Scientist not a File Monkey!!!! I have to stop this strange but slightly compelling activity and get myself a job!”

SO I did, for about 10 months then I found myself at the XXXXXX creating files, classifying & attaching documents and moving files from Compactus A to areas B, C & D and then back again.. It was only going to be for a month or two!!!

Yes there is pattern emerging here.

My Life for the last 8 years or so has been me trying to run as far as I can from Records Management and every time I did, something would go awry and I find myself going back to the comfort of classifying & attaching document and moving files from Compactus A to areas B, C & D and then back again.

So I recently stopped running and embraced the records, and ever since doors have been opening for me wide and encouragingly.

 I have now come to the realisation that one does not choose records management as a career it chooses you!

Now I am currently the Records Management for the consulting engineering firm ZZZZ. I’ve been in the role for just over a year now. I am also doing the Masters of Information Management at QUT part-time.

How did I find myself here? Well it is like this… “I have a two-week contract archiving at an Engineers firm are you interested?” Two weeks turned in to 11 which finally ended up with me getting a permanent placement as the Records Manger.

Records Management at ZZZ in the past has mainly focused on the archiving of old projects. This was traditionally was done by the Liberians when they had the time. I am still referred to by the “Old School” as the archivist and a lot of what I do is at the back-end of the Records life cycle.

My main brief at ZZZ is concerned around three areas; these being,

1. Advising, assisting & training Admin Staff in the procedures and practices of Archiving Closed projects,

2.  Finding better ways  for ZZZ to do Records Management, and

3.  Being the interface between ZZZ and our archive storage provider.

The main system we use to track physical files is an Access Data Base which goes by the name of FRED ((File Retrieval using Electronic Data)). Now, please before you giggle and gasp too much, I’d like to point out that in the world of engineering, physical files once created, very rarely if at all move much. Once created, a file will stay with the project manager until the project is finalised. Nowadays with the trend of files and records being created & stored electronically there is no real need to spend the money on anything fancy.

Our electronic systems are currently being reviewed by the IS team in the Head Office down in Sydney and rumour has it we will have fully integrated Electronic Document Control and Archiving System some time next year.

What is coming up in the New Year for Records Management at ZZZ?

Well I just mentioned the new electronic system. I suspect that once it is rolled out, I will have a major role in its implementation, training and maintenance.

The other big thing that is happening at ZZZ is the move to new premises in September next year. I envision that there will be an increased volume of records to be archived as we get closer to the moving date. I am currently running audits on the various Operational Centres at ZZZ to find out if we can archive more files & documents before we move.

What do I like the most about my chosen profession?

Well it’s the fact that there will always be a need for Record Managers. There will always be records that need to be managed. The way we manage records & documents may change over time, but basically there will always be a need for some one out there to sort out someone else’s records & documents.

The thing I like the least about my chosen profession?

The lack of prestige of being a Records Manager in the corporate sector.  Records Management is still basically seen as an overhead and a bit of a nuisance. I find myself constantly struggling to:

1.  Get funding for new projects. Don’t want to be sour but IS get all the cash, and 

2. Convince project managers that they really should hand over their files so I can keep them nice and safe.

 

What are the Challenges for the Corporate Records Manager the future?

Well I think it has a lot to do with what I dislike about Records Management. Records Management needs to have an image change! Records Management needs to communicate its message better and constantly. Records Management needs to work more closely with IS, Legal & (especially in the field of engineering), the Document Controllers.

Major Opportunities for the future?

There are a lot of businesses out there in the private sector that are starting to grapple with idea how to manage their records. In most cases they don’t know how to do it and are desperately looking for a Records Management willing to take on the challenge. So for all you people in the public sector looking for a challenge, go out and test the market and see what’s available.

Oh! Only one minor obstacle, sorry no FLEX.

Web 2.0 Series of Blogs

Recently I wrote a series of blogs about the various patterns of Web 2.0.

This post is a link to those other posts. Please feel free to read and make comments.

http://3mpecee.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/abc-pool-harnessing-collective-experince/

http://3mpecee.wordpress.com/2011/03/19/foursquare-utilising-the-data-as-the-next-intel-iside/

http://3mpecee.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/gigpig-innovation-in-assembly/

http://3mpecee.wordpress.com/2011/04/01/mockingbird-and-cappuccino-two-ingredients-to-providing-a-rich-user-experience/

http://3mpecee.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/the-future-promised-us-hover-cars-but-it-gave-us-ebuddy-a-software-above-the-level-of-a-single-device/

http://3mpecee.wordpress.com/2011/05/04/facebook-and-perpetual-beta-tautology-or-oxymoron/

http://3mpecee.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/moshi-monsters-leveraging-the-long-tail/

http://3mpecee.wordpress.com/2011/05/13/getgluelightweight-models-and-cost-effective-scalability/

Welcome to 3mpecee’s serious blog

Yes another blog by 3mpecee. However i will be going by the Monica “Michael Patrick Crook”, because that is my name.

This Blog is for all things information management.

 

Stay tuned more to come.