Buried Alive and For The Record.

• Author: Pemberton, J. Michael
• Position: Video Reviews - Commonwealth Films - Review - Brief Article

Fear is not one of our nobler emotions. It can, however, do absolute wonders in getting one's attention or in motivating people into action. For those records and information managers who have difficulty getting the attention of senior management to records management's values, these two video productions can be very important delivery vehicles.

Buried Alive: Document Retention and For the Record are two well designed, informative, and practical video productions from Commonwealth Films of Boston. Each emphasizes various aspects of business practice, legal compliance, and information security. Of clear value in training all new employees, these videos should definitely be shown to senior management and corporate counsel.

Both videos are of the docudrama genre, which makes use of actual events and reported problems in managing corporate records. Both focus on the need for systematic retention and disposition of documents according to policies and procedures developed by professional records managers with knowledgeable legal assistance. In following the actions of corporate staff in the face of eminent legal action, some 20 records management issues are exposed that can easily arise in a situation where there is a mismatch between an organization's records management program's policies and procedures and the organization's actual practices.

Both videos feature high-quality productions that make good use of the knowledge of several records management consultants and practitioners. In each, there are effective production values and a useful balance of credible characters, dialogue, action, narration, and reinforcing captions. A lot of information is coherently presented in context in a relatively short time.

There are some differences between the two videos. This is caused, in part, by the difference in approach to records retention in a product liability situation (Buried Alive), as opposed to production of records for approval of a corporate acquisition (For the Record). The latter also stresses how the managerial and economic benefits of an effective records management program go hand in hand. Buried Alive centers on faulty records practices that create trouble in a pre-trial discovery context. For the Record examines more issues related to computer-based recordkeeping (e.g., e-mail and databases) than Buried Alive does.

Unlike videos rented for home use, these productions are fairly expensive to buy. However, use by records management...