I did wonder, when I first started reading this book, could it be all that it claimed to be? Could it equally emphasise the theory of recordkeeping and information management with the reality of business operations? Could the one book really benefit a newcomer to the recordkeeping and information management profession just as well as an old hand? And finally, could a book written by authors in the US, UK and the Netherlands deliver content sufficiently relevant to Australia?
Well, the answers to most of those questions, surprisingly, for me is generally yes. As a relative newcomer to the world of recordkeeping and information management starting around two years ago (my background is policy development), I found myself wishing I had read this book earlier. I was fascinated to learn about the origins of records and information management, including the history of parchment, paper and paper presses, those recordings of conversations by American presidents and the birth of email at MIT in 1965, to mention a few. And I could have been prepared for, or in fact avoided, the debate I had with other recordkeeping professionals about proposing the development of a lifecycle diagram to help employees at public authorities understand what happens to records over time. Instead, I learnt about the records continuum, developed by Australian Frank Upward, the hard way.
The book, in some parts, tends to focus on the United States. For instance, there are sections where laws and regulations are discussed (for instance, in chapters two and nine), making these parts less relevant for Australians. Nevertheless, the book refers to international standards and to de facto international standards such as the US Department of Defense’s DoD 5015.02-STD: Electronic Records Management Software Application Design Criteria Standard. The book intersperses references to Australia, mentioning the National Archives of Australia definition of a record and benefits of records. In discussions on electronic records management systems and migration of digital records, the State Records Authority of NSW, Guideline 22, Section 4 of the Government Recordkeeping Manual, ‘Effectively Manage the Migration of Your Digital Records’, is described as providing ‘a wealth of information’ (p. 160). The book also discusses the audit program and Assessment and Audit Guideline established by the Government of South Australia in 2012 and the Records Management Advice Paper (no. 10) Cloud Computing and Recordkeeping, released by the Department of Business and Employment of the Northern Territory Government in 2011.
The book has 12 chapters ranging from information governance, creation and capture of records, retention, access and storage, to electronic records, emerging technologies, vital records and disaster preparedness, monitoring and auditing, long-term preservation, and education and training. Each chapter written by Franks is followed by a brief paradigm or perspective presented by another author. I found some of these paradigms or perspectives to be more interesting or relevant than others. The perspective offered by Steve Bailey in ‘Realising the Records and Information Management Covenant’ was a useful reminder to focus on users as a primary beneficiary of records and information management, rather than seeing users as ‘little more than pawns to be moved at will for the benefits of the greater cause’ (p. 23). Through the users we can gain the benefits for the organisation, instead of pushing the benefits to the organisation onto the users. Users were also found to be important in ‘Records Management in the Cloud’ by Mary Beth Herkert, State Archivist for Oregon. Herkert outlines the long journey taken by Oregon State Archives to manage the state’s electronic resources, including fines and costs for a state agency ($2.5 million) and a city authority ($1 million) for failing to comply with a written public records request. I, for one, will be interested in the final outcome of the Oregon Innovative Records Management Solution, launched in May 2011. The solution comprises a private government cloud with HP TRIM software-as-a-service (SaaS) with monthly user fees decreasing as patronage by agencies and city authorities grows.
In some chapters Franks refers to different existing products and outlines their recordkeeping functions or implications for recordkeeping (for example, Facebook and Yammer in discussions on social media) which is useful, but at other times I wonder whether it is really necessary to refer to specific vendor products such as SharePoint 2010.
In summary, while I am not convinced that a records and information management professional with years of experience behind them would benefit significantly from this book, I found it helpful and generally interesting.
Queensland State Archives
© 2014, Julie Shanks
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01576895.2014.888031