The Age of information vulnerability.

• Position: IN FOCUS: A Message from the Editors

Managing records and information these days isn't easy. In fact, with electronic records, vast databases, and stringent government regulations, records and information management professionals have never been more challenged.

And then there are the now all-too-frequent database breaches in which the most private information about thousands of consumers has been stolen, lost, or otherwise compromised, exposing them to identity theft on a grand scale. Just last month, LexisNexis admitted that 310,000 consumers--not the 32,000 it had first reported--were affected by a computer breach. Indeed, it seems managing records and information has become one of the most challenging professions on earth.

In these times, it is also one of the most important professions, whether corporations recognize it or not.

This issue of The Information Management Journal tackles some of the most difficult issues that records managers and other professionals face on a daily basis.

In their article, "Creating Order out of Chaos with Taxonomies," Susan K. Cisco, Ph.D., CRM, FAI, and Wanda K. Jackson, Ph.D., explain that, because more than 90 percent of new business records are created electronically--yes, 90 percent!--companies everywhere face a deluge of mostly unstructured digital data, documents, e-mail, and instant messages that raise serious retention, storage, and accessibility challenges. No wonder companies mismanage information so frequently. Fortunately, there is a solution. Cisco and Jackson explain how taxonomies can help corporations organize, retrieve, and access their records effectively and efficiently.

Information is highly mobile these days, a reality that can lead to information mismanagement and breaches in any company that allows its employees to work away from the office. In "Who Owns...