RMS to IRMS: about the name change
As you will know, the Records Management Society has changed its name to become the Information and Records Management Society. This change took place after a vote of members to change the constitution using our new online voting system in August 2010.
The result was overwhelmingly in favour of the change with 496 votes for and only 48 against.
This change is not something we have introduced lightly and has been the culmination of 18 months of consultation and discussion. Me and the other members of the Executive Committee have sought to obtain the views of as many members as possible at events, group meetings and conferences we have attend over the past year or so. The vast majority of those we spoke to agreed that a name which includes the word information would be more reflective of the work the Society represents than one which only refers to Records Management. In fact from my own personal experience, of those people I spoke to, only one person was not in favour of the change!
The name itself took some consideration and there has been discussion about whether we should have gone with the term Records and Information Management (RIM) or used the term Information and Records Management (IRM). It was always the view of the Exec that the Society itself didn't really need to change, just the name and so we preferred to evolve the existing name rather than introduce a completely new one hence: Information and Records Management Society (IRMS).
We hope that this new name reflects the work that we actually do. Like me, most people I speak to don't do records management in isolation. We are managing information as well as managing records, advising on many aspects of the creation, use, storage, security, access to, provision and disposal of information and records.
Many of us work under banners such as Information Assurance, Information Governance, Access to Information, Information Security, Information Rights, Information Compliance etc. We wish to ensure that all people, working with records and information (members and non-members alike), our managers and organisational heads, our stakeholders, customers and users, realise the breadth of the Society's work. With a greater recognition, we can continue to work to professionalising our line of work, no matter which particular branch we operate in or under which job title we operate under.
Finally, The name change is not intended to dilute the records management work we do or to alienate those who work exclusively in records management. Those people are vital to our work bit we hope that they will recognise that with a broader scope and perhaps an increased membership as a result we will be stronger and more useful and effective. The new name should also help to highlight the importance of Information Managers and Records Managers to senior managers with a non-information/records background.
The old branding of the Records Management Society will be slowly phased out. The beginning of October sees the new website on www.irms.org.uk. November's Bulletin will use the new name and branding as will all Conference materials which will be released at about the same time, the new version of membership documents such as membership cards and certificates will be used in the upcoming renewal exercise and we expect that by the time of the Conference in Brighton in early April, the only reference to the Records Management Society will be on documents on the website created prior to the name change.
If anyone wishes to discuss the name change or indeed any aspect of the Society's work, please do get in touch with me or with any of the other members of the Executive Committee if preferred via the contact form. As ever we would love to hear from anyone who wishes to become more involved in the Society by for example helping to run a Group or host a meeting or by supporting an aspect of the work undertaken by the Exec, (for example marketing, communications or conference).
Matthew Stephenson
Chairman
Information and Records Management Society
