7 paths to developing or sustaining RIM programs.

• Author: Cox, Richard J.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Despite the fact that archives, records, and information management programs, in various forms, have been around for a long time, there has been little systematically gathered information published about why organizations implement records and information management (RIM) programs. A search of the professional literature and a survey of RIM professionals were the basis of a recent research report that identifies the seven factors that most often lead to the establishment of RIM programs--and shed light on what RIM professionals can do to help strengthen and sustain their own programs.

RIM professionals are products of nearly too many schisms to count. Records managers split from archivists; some records managers have gone on to become information managers; archivists have split into many different camps; and new variations, such as knowledge managers, have swept by and pulled with them some archivists and records managers. All of these different groups have different educational backgrounds, read different journals, and attend different professional meetings. These groups, then, also have their own definitions of what constitutes a RIM program. The RIM programs focused on for this study were fairly traditional archives and records management programs, encompassing those that also defined their responsibilities to include information management programs.

Determining Factors Leading to the Creation of RIM Programs

An initial step for this study was to identify through a literature search the top factors leading to the establishment of RIM programs. This search revealed a strong consensus about the top seven factors:

1. Organizations tend to establish RIM programs, especially archival units, when they reach a landmark anniversary or other critical juncture in their development.

2. Many RIM programs are the results of efforts of individuals or groups, mostly from within the organization but sometimes working from the outside, who function as champions or advocates for their creation or strengthening.

3. Professional and technical standards can be used to encourage organizations to create new or strengthen existing RIM programs.

4. Laws, the fear of litigation, and the news about the impact of mismanaged records and information systems on court cases all can influence organizations to pay closer attention to RIM.

5. RIM programs are often established because organizations believe that they will help their employees enhance their productivity, make the organizations more competitive, enable the better use of information technologies, or contend with a problem such as the growing volume of records.

6. Various crises and disasters inflicting an organization, including threats about not complying with rules, best practices, and industry standards, often inspire or force an organization to establish a RIM program.

7. Organizations often see access to records and information as sources for supporting public relations and marketing.

   A survey of Pittsburgh-area RIM professionals sought to validate and prioritize these factors by asking two questions:

1. What factor or factors led to the establishment of your program?

2. What are the most important factor or factors in establishing a records and information management program?

   The answers from 16 respondents, who represented a broad array of RIM programs, revealed consensus about the relative importance of the various factors influencing the establishment and sustenance of RIM programs. The respondents affirmed that administrative and legal/compliance needs are by far the most important factors. Crises, professional/technical standards, and the role of advocates/champions all ranked as important factors but considerably less significant than that of the legal and administrative factors. Public relations/marketing values and anniversaries were the least important factors.

   The low ranking of anniversaries as a factor was a surprise, as it contradicted many references in the professional literature that it was an important factor in creating and, sometimes, sustaining, a program.

   Visualizing the Factors

   How should RIM professionals consider this group of factors? Since every organization possesses a unique culture and operates in different marketplaces, it is impossible to predict just which of the seven factors identified will prompt an organization to reconsider how it is administering RIM sources or when it will determine that it is time to establish such a program. Nevertheless, these factors can be grouped (tentatively) on a time continuum, as follows:

   * As an organization ages and evolves, the problems it faces in administering records and information will grow until either a champion arguing for more systematic RIM approaches emerges or a disaster occurs,

   * Renewed attention to RIM sources within an organization will begin to recognize these sources as being important for corporate memory,

   * The establishment of RIM programs will generate increased attention to professional and technical standards and the importance of records and information sources for organizational compliance, especially as RIM professional staff market the potential value of their activities.

   It is difficult to place these various factors more precisely. Most likely this occurs differently in different organizations, but it is certainly a model worth exploring in future research.

   Sustaining RIM Programs

   The reasons for which organizations initially establish RIM programs may not be sufficient for sustaining them over the long-term...