Effective Records Management: Practical Implementation of BS ISO 15489‐1

Citation

Newton, C. (2002), "Effective Records Management: Practical Implementation of BS ISO 15489‐1", Records Management Journal, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 108-109. https://doi.org/10.1108/rmj.2002.12.3.108.2

Nothing demonstrates the increased profile and status of records management than the appearance of this publication under the imprint of the British Standards Institution.

Designed to complement ISO 15489, it is the second part of what will be a trilogy of such documents. Compiled by Julie McLeod of Northumbria University, with an introduction by Philip Jones, in his capacity as Chairman of the IDT/2/17 Committee, this is an important contribution both to the BSI’s Published Documents series and to the development of records management practice in the UK.

The aim is to place the International Standard in context and to provide illustrations and interpretation thereof for the benefit of “new or non‐records management professionals”. The focus is on clauses 7‐9 of the Standard, (Records Management Requirements, Design and Implementation, and Records Management Processes and Control). Two sections act as a general introduction, setting out the reasons for good records management and defining the nature of record systems. Perhaps the most significant comment here is on page 3, where the crucial difference between a manual and an electronic record system is defined as being that, in the latter, physical order has no connection with logical order. Hence metadata is needed to ensure evidential integrity.

The remaining sections set out a design and implementation path following the Australian DIRKS (Design and Implementation of Record Keeping Systems) methodology. This methodology contains eight steps and to each is devoted a section. Each step is introduced by the appropriate clause from the Standard. Questionnaires are provided and each step is set out in a flow chart of activities and outputs, as well as in narrative. A section then deals with “tools for managing records” which turn out to be retention schedules, classification schemes, and thesauri and an action plan with checklists for each individual step of the methodology. A useful bibliography completes the work.

Given the inevitable technical nature of such documents, it is not easy to make a critical assessment. One can either follow a methodology or reject it. If it is followed, it should be as rigorously adhered to as possible, even if there are doubts about the relevance of particular sections. The author clearly recognises this herself; she understands that the processes she outlines can be resource intensive and designing a records system, manual or electronic, is a tall order, especially for non‐professionals. This does raise the issue of the target audience. Granted that it is of high value to experienced professionals, it is nevertheless doubtful how much those not directly involved in records, or with no previous practical experience, would get out of this document. Managers should be persuaded of the business value of implementing the Standard by PD 0025‐1 (A Management Guide to the Value of BSI ISO 15489‐1). Convinced thereby they should hand the job over to the professionals in any of the areas involved. IT professionals, for example, might read the document with benefit and enlightenment.

The author also makes an important point on page 22. “In striving for the ‘perfect’ system there is a danger that no system will ever be implemented …”. Precisely. Strategies are for implementation not contemplation, and methodologies are only relevant in so far as they can deliver business benefits in a sustainable manner. Unfortunately the formula and format of PDs do not make for the inclusion of positive examples which would have increased the value of the document considerably, especially for anyone unfamiliar with the concepts and terminology. This is particularly so for the sections dealing with organisational role and mission, business analysis, and records requirements, which tend to be somewhat jejune and abstract in the absence of living examples. A major problem with any record project of this kind is making the crucial link between the records and business effectiveness. Too often there is an uncomfortable gap between the preliminaries and the actual design. It is unclear from this work whether DIRKS addresses this problem any better than any other approach. There is, after all, a case for suggesting that it is a waste of time to analyse the old systems because they can exert an inordinate subliminal influence on the design of the new. The PD rightly stresses at several points the importance of organisational “culture”. Resistance to change is all too often one element of such “culture”.

Little need be said about specific points. The “tools” might with more benefit have been introduced at the appropriate sections of the methodology and this reviewer remains unconvinced about thesauri. In general, the production is attractive and the style eminently clear and free from obscurantism, but the presentation could have been less generous with blank space, given the high price of BSI publications. SWOT analysis is surely well enough known not to require a space‐intrusive diagram. But the author and BSI have provided records managers with a valuable tool, not least because of the high public profile and serious approach to their concerns which it provides. Gone are the days when many records managers and archivists airily dismissed such productions as fashionable management gobbledegook.