The World's First International Records Management Standard.

AuthorSTEPHENS, DAVID O.
PositionInternational Organization for Standardization

Professional records management practitioners are about to receive the first-ever international standard for records management. The International Organization for Standardization, a worldwide federation of national standards bodies based in Geneva, is about to issue ISO 15489-1 --Information and Documentation -- Records Management -- Part 1: General. The document prescribes technical guidelines for recordkeeping in all organizational settings, as well as practical guidelines for records managers throughout the world.

This column is a general introduction to ISO 15489.

ISO 15489: Its Overall Significance

The underlying significance of this milestone event can hardly be overstated. Organizations throughout the world have one thing in common: They create records and information. This is true whether they are public or private, large or small, technically sophisticated, or primitive in their business practices. Yet, in the thousands of years that organizations have kept business records, there has never been a single set of technical guidelines prescribing how those records should be managed -- until now.

Despite glowing sentiments, a "reality check" is in order: With this new standard's issuance, the budgets of organizations throughout the world will not suddenly overflow with money for new records management initiatives. Nor will senior executives suddenly be convinced that records management is now the most indispensable new management objective they must pursue, however long they have permitted it to languish in their own organizations. Moreover, remember that ISO 15489 is a voluntary code of practice -- compliance with it is entirely at the enterprise's discretion. Unlike the ISO 9000 quality standards, there will be no special audits by external parties to determine compliance or to recommend revised practices if organizations are out of compliance. Finally, the records management vendor community will not need to develop hardware or software solutions that are ISO 15489-compliant, as the standard requires no technology compliance. These factors effectively weaken the standard as a document, which will revolutionize the world's recordkeeping.

Notwithstanding these realities, ISO 15489 is the most significant thing ever to happen to international records management because it has the effect of legitimizing records management as a global management discipline. In many countries, the term records management is barely understood, let alone widely adopted as a management practice. ISO is the world's pre-eminent international standards setting organization; for records management to receive one of its standards definitely adds a stamp of legitimacy never enjoyed before. Also, the new standard provides an officially sanctioned benchmarking model for global emulation of best professional practices. These two benefits are truly significant, and the new standard has the potential to elevate the records management discipline to the next level of professional practice.

Background / Evolution

Seen in its broadest context, ISO 15489 is the latest development in the global best practices movement that has been gathering momentum during the past 15 years. Many factors...

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