When I work as an Information Analyst, I am often juggling dozens of variables inside my head to solve complex problems or to create backend system designs. Some of the projects I work on include creating taxonomies, developing metadata standards, determining which facets to use, designing user-based folder structures, modernizing RIM processes, designing migration strategies, etc. At times it’s like solving a gigantic logic problem where I am constantly reconciling and integrating how users work with how the applications work to create a seamless transition. I design systems for high-end ECMs and complex organizations, which is dynamic and exciting for me, until I look at the tools available at my disposal to accomplish these feats:
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A stone tablet
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A chisel
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A sprinkling of fairy dust to make everything come together
In reality this mostly translates into using Excel spreadsheets to manage everything, though compared with all the more modern solutions I hear about, it feels pretty primitive. I know that other information professionals must be taking advantage of more modern options to perform and manage our most basic processes, such as disposition. And I hear about them, applications that can do automatic destructions and classifications, declare records with the click of a mouse, handle routine records creation with workflows or manage some of our complex data relationships like classification codes and legislative requirements. However, I have not yet had the opportunity to work somewhere that had these solutions completely implemented and functioning.
As an information professional, I definitely prefer to work with current trends and issues with electronic mediums. However, many of the challenges that the profession has had in dealing with physical records still exist such as the offsite transfer process or having a routine destruction process, which still rely on old processes to perform them. As long as we still have to contend with physical records, legacy systems, and backlog, we should invest time in the tools we need to create really sleek and modern systems to handle these challenges. And the tools we use to deal with old, clunky systems should also be sleek and modern.
Equally, the new, modern applications should be equipped to deal with all aspects of RIM management. Some of the applications and ECMs that I have worked have always been a bit weak in managing retention and disposition. To me, one of the primary benefits of migrating content to an ECM is the ability to implement, and potentially, automate the annual destruction process. Another benefit is being able to take advantage of other features like versioning, being able to develop and implement faceted-classification schemes, and auto-classification. All I’m saying is that as information professionals we deal with huge amounts of variable data, some of which has to be processed by a human brain, and the quality of our tools doesn’t always complement the complexity of the tasks. If anybody has a really, sleek well-designed RIM process that’s implemented, I would love to hear about it.