From YouTube to You Manage: the need to democratize the management of information

Conference 2008 Keynote 1 - Monday 09.15-10.00

Technology has transformed the act of information creation out of all recognition in recent years. As a result, our users and information creators have been empowered as never before and yet, at the same time, the records management profession remains wedded to a methodology which has changed little in fifty years and which risks shortly being no longer fit for purpose.

We must realise that the records management profession does not operate in a vacuum, isolated from the trends and changes which are driving the rest of our society and culture. Ours is an inherently conservative profession, accustomed to taking the .long view., and this is often to our credit. But, for too long, we have made the mistake of assuming that the need to adhere to a consistent set of professional values also requires us to preserve our methodologies in the same professional aspic. It does not, and continuing to do so presents a direct threat to our professional relevance and influence.

In this paper we shall explore the nature of the changes that are shaping our world and the problems they pose to records management as currently envisaged. We shall also explore where this leaves us and how we might seek to reinvent the way in which we practice records management to ensure it continues to be fit for purpose in the 21st century and the Web2.0 world.

1_keynote_Bailey.pdf (.pdf, 435.5 KB)

Steve Bailey, JISC infoNet

Steve currently acts as senior advisor on records management issues for JISC infoNet, an advisory service for managers within the HE and FE sectors. He is responsible for preparing and disseminating a range of guidance material and tools to help... more...

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