Managing Records – A Handbook of Principles and Practice

Citation

Shepherd, E. and Yeo, G. (2004), "Managing Records – A Handbook of Principles and Practice", Library Review, Vol. 53 No. 3, pp. 188-188. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242530410526619

As this publication acknowledges from the outset, the area of records management has, in the last 10 years especially, developed in both complexity and extent. Record‐keeping activities are subject to an increasing number of International Standards and general legislative compliance that have implications for both records creators and records managers. In addition, the rapid integration of multimedia information technologies and proliferation of information and communications technologies (ICT) for information delivery has often meant that the technical aspects of information management obscure the effective management of its content, flow and retention. There has been an explosion in the supply and demand of information in many media and a corresponding decrease in the resources available to acquire and manage it. Records management provides methodologies for closing this gap and making best use of information resources.

The preface indicates that the book is intended to be of value to experienced practitioners as well as newcomers to the field and it achieves this by addressing the key issues of records management, in terms of practical and managerial issues. The chapters cover the underlying principles and contemporary requirements in record‐keeping, from “analysing the context for records management” to “creating and capturing records” and “maintaining records and assuring their integrity”. It deals with both paper and digital systems. There is a comprehensive index and useful set of appendices that provide, in addition to a bibliography and sources of further information, a list of national and international standards. This book is a well‐constructed and lucid addition to a discipline where extensive publications on the intellectual theories that underpin practical action have sometime been relegated to second‐place.

The book reflects the fact that, in many large organisations, records and information are an integral part of strategic management. The ways that an organisation collects, uses and disseminates information and its use of technology to support these activities is critical to competitive advantage. Information and ICT are currently deeply embedded in organisational operations, from product design and delivery through to administration and management. In many circumstances, however, current arrangements have developed in an ad hoc fashion, and records management provides techniques for reviewing effective information capture, management and exchange. As a result, many organisations have developed “Information Management” policies with a strong records management component, as they recognise that addressing only the technological aspect of information creation and delivery is insufficient.

The methodology for using records management tools and techniques is presented in eight chapters that can be read in sequence or independently. It allows the reader the means by which the veracity and quality of existing information and record systems can be interrogated against established professional principles and practice.

Managing Records is an essential reading for anyone who is either considering implementing records and information management initiative or who is further developing records management programme and needs to refresh their professional skills; and a wider audience will find it a useful reference resource. It is a timely addition to a discipline that is so intrinsically linked to organisational growth.