Staying on top of trends, techniques leads to business success.

• Position: IN FOCUS: A Message from the Editors

How's business?

In today's global business environment, that seemingly innocuous phrase can elicit panic, pride, or a litany of complaints. For RIM professionals, an accurate answer is "Business is on the move!" Standards, new legislation and other compliance issues, and new technology mean there is no longer a status quo. You either adapt and grow, or you risk getting left behind.

RIM professionals who make an effort to keep up-to-date on trends, technology, and techniques bring added value to their organizations and gain visibility for themselves and their profession--both internally and in the business community--as they help their organizations be more successful. There are multiple resources readily available to help RIM managers educate and enlighten themselves. Books, journals, online newsletters and websites, web seminars, conferences, and, even more simply, the evening news, can all help provide information that the RIM professional needs to adapt and grow to greater success in the ever-changing business world.

This issue of The Information Management Journal is about "The Business of RIM" and will stimulate your professional growth with articles that will help keep you on the leading edge of business developments. Its articles will help you respond to the challenges that accompany expanding international business opportunities, evolving communications technologies, and increasing demands for information contained in databases.

David Stephens' article, "The Why and How of International Records Retention," provides the RIM professional with a practical approach to researching the retention requirements of other...