Doing more with less: how networking and training create records program success: a study of government records managers shows networking affords opportunities to provide training, increase RIM awareness, and overcome resource shortfalls.

• Author: Choksy, Carol E.B.

Records management in government faces constraints that are unlike those in the corporate world. Those constraints are primarily in continuity of funding for personnel and severe limits on funding for records management, content management, and document management products to manage electronic records, content, and documents. Even when an information technology system can be purchased and installed, continuous funding for personnel to run the system may not be possible.

According to a study conducted by this author under the auspices of Human Subjects Committee of Indiana University, networking and training are the key ways local government records managers compensate for these constraints and experience program success. Local government records managers ensure everyone is trained in the policies of records management, as well as the further restrictions placed on government employees regarding the Freedom of Information Act and privacy laws regarding citizens' personally identifiable information.

This government study was a follow-up to a 2005-2006 National Historical Publications and Records Commission Electronic Records Research Fellows study published in the Information Management Journal in 2008. That study examined reporting relationships of records managers in large publicly traded and privately held corporations headquartered in the United States to determine whether where a records manager reported had an impact on how electronic records were being managed. This study used a similar survey instrument to examine reporting relationships in government.

Comparisons of the results of the two studies are interesting both in describing what is done and what can be accomplished in a records management program given the constraints and possibilities of business versus government.

Study Demographics

The survey used for this study is similar to that used in the 2006 corporate study with changes to reflect the way government does business, as well as issues in government.

In the summer of 2007, the survey was e-mailed to members of ARMA International who identified themselves as being in government. Of the 124 people answering survey questions, 53% were from local government, 25% were from state government, 14% were from federal government, and the remaining respondents were from non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Some of the respondents worked for contractors that perform specialized work for the federal government. The study became a de facto study of records management in local government.

More than 50% of participants have been in records management for more than 10 years and report being at their current employer for more than five years. More than 60% report being in their current job four years or longer, with 20% reporting being in...