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Deborah Barletta has been Records Manager for SWBR Architects for the last five years. She attended Monroe Community College and Nazareth College of Rochester. Happily married, she’s the mother of 3 boys and a girl. When not wrestling records under control; she’s a fan of the UFC (where she probably gets some tips!).

Deborah talks about learning SharePoint and being an Information Professional.

Duhon: What do you do?

Barletta: I’m the Records Manager for an architectural firm formed over 40 years ago. We employ about 85 people, but have never had a full-time person in this position. I manage the physical archive for project files including architectural drawings, as well as manage the retention of our digital files.

Besides storage and retrieval of the physical project files, I am responsible for implementing and/or monitoring our company-wide Record Retention & Destruction policy. I wrote our Legal Hold policy, and administer our corporate intranet (SharePoint).

My role includes training employees on all aspects of our robust project management software program, geared specifically for architectural firms. The software assists us in minimizing risk by specifically addressing email management.

How I got here:

Regardless of the challenge, the process of achieving proficiency energizes me. My background includes education and employment in the fields of medical records and human services. Records management spoke to my need to understand and master a subject, to do work of significance, and to provide support to others.

Duhon: What was your best day at work?

Barletta: The best day at work was the day I proved that I could learn SharePoint (2003) by myself (no one here had ever used it) to create our corporate intranet from the ground up. The President of the company challenged me to do it but there were those who either had no idea how complicated an undertaking that was, or firmly believed that I would not be successful. Being able to say that I did it was gratifying both as a person and an employee.

Duhon: Worst?

Barletta: I love my job – I honestly can’t think of a day I haven’t been content.

Duhon: What are you proudest of?

Barletta: My children are all bright, loving, funny, genuinely kind individuals. Aside from family, my proudest moment has to be when I passed the LEED for New Construction exam in 2009. This exam is taken primarily by architects and engineers. It has a high failure rate on the first try. It brought me a lot of credibility and respect and awakened a passion in me to be a good steward of the environment.

Duhon: What is your No. 1 goal today?

Barletta: My primary goal today is to learn more about the technical side of information management. To that end I plan to take the CIP by the end of the year.

Duhon: What is your greatest content-related challenge?

Barletta: That has to be managing the content specific to architecture. On-going client relationships complicate retention issues. Business reasons for maintaining records often preclude us from strictly administering the retention policy. And we all know that you can’t follow your policy inconsistently and remain credible in court.

Duhon: Why do you consider yourself an information professional?

Barletta: An information professional understands the relationship between the management of the firm’s knowledge assets and the business value of those assets. The profession requires constant learning, especially with the explosion of electronic records and the inherent associated risks. In the last 5 years we have been able to adopt a corporate Record Retention and Destruction Policy, a Legal Hold policy, and a corporate intranet using SharePoint. We have leapt ahead of our peers by adopting project management software that greatly reduces our use of paper records, while improving our efficiency. Through this software we were able to solve our email management concerns. My role in each of these accomplishments is validation of my professional identity.

Just for fun.

Duhon: What are your three favorite websites?

Barletta: YouTube, Ted.com, Stumbleupon.

Duhon: What are the three greatest books ever written—and what’s on your nightstand today?

Barletta: War and Peace by Tolstoy, Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, and Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. On my nightstand, and there are always several books there – A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines.

Duhon: What are the three greatest movies of all time—and what’s the last one you’ve seen?

Barletta: Cool Hand Luke, Gone With the Wind, Star Wars. Sherlock Holmes is the last movie I saw in the theater.

Duhon: What was your first concert—and what are the three greatest songs on your iPod?

Barletta: I saw Neil Diamond in Buffalo in the late 70s. I don’t have an iPod and I don’t have three favorite songs! I use my Droid and Pandora or You Tube. At any time you might find me listening to Pearl Jam, the music of Ghana, Guster, André Segovia, Verdi, or The Plain White T’s. I have a low tolerance for boredom, especially with music.