Pondering theoretical recordkeeping.

• Author: Holland, Michael E.
• Position: Book review

TITLE: Record Keeping in a Hybrid Environment: Managing the Creation, Use,

Preservation and Disposal of Unpublished

Information Objects in Context (Chandos Information Professional Series)

EDITORS: Alistair Tough and Michael Moss

PUBLISHER: Chandos Publishing

PUBLICATION DATE: 2006

LENGTH: 300 pages

PRICE: $69.95

SOURCE: www.amazon.com

Record Keeping in a Hybrid Environment is the collaborative product of academic thinkers on record and archival matters and practicing recordkeepers and archivists at Glasgow University in Scotland. The editors, Alistair Tough and Michael Moss, are both research faculty with the Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute (HATII) at Glasgow University.

In this compilation, the editors invited 10 colleagues affiliated with the HATII or the university to contribute essays addressing electronic records and digital issues, as well as a few more traditional issues that apply both to electronic and traditional paper-based records. Topics include records appraisal, risk management, records description, recordkeeping continuum, and the interaction between archivists and records managers. The essays focusing primarily on electronic or digital concerns are those addressing implementation of electronic document and records management systems (EDRMS), digital preservation, digital security, and archival digitization project planning.

The collection of essays and case studies is directed at two principal audiences: busy recordkeeping professionals who may be in mid-career and need to sharpen their familiarity with recent developments in theory and practice, and "those who have been 'recycled' into recordkeeping roles [and] have had to find their way as best they can." A book directed at these two groups is much needed, considering the current complexities and demands of maintaining records and information efficiently, effectively, and legally. However, the large number of theoretical and philosophical essays in the book, often supported by complex and abstract diagrams and tables, does little to help the overwhelmed journeyman recordkeeper or the employee thrown to the information management wolves because of a shortage of trained professionals. Further, the wide variety of styles and sophistication levels of essays do not make this a good reading choice for the busy practitioner or the novice recordkeeper.

In addition, the book's strong focus on practitioners working in the British Commonwealth renders the...