Records Management Handbook

2. Records Management: the Context

The International Context

Records Management is becoming an increasingly important part of corporate governance in organisations of all sizes worldwide. An important factor in this heightened awareness of the role of Records Management is ISO 15489 which was published by the International Standards Organisation in September 2001 and has since been adopted by the National Standards Agency of Ireland.

Experts from Europe, North America, Asia and Australia developed ISO 15489 to ensure that a common standard was established and it has emerged at a time when Records Management in Ireland has become increasingly important in the context of the introduction of the Freedom of Information Acts, 1997 and 2003 and the Data Protection (Amendment) Act, 2003.

ISO 15489 is aimed at individuals responsible for setting policies, standards and guidelines for information management within organisations including records managers, archivists, librarians and database managers. It sets out a comprehensive framework and methodology for the design and implementation of a sustainable Records Management infrastructure and includes guidelines for doing so with a description of the actions and outputs that are required at each of the following eight stages.

  1. Preliminary assessment including staff surveys
  2. Detailed analysis of existing work practices
  3. Identification of a framework outlining what is required
  4. Detailed analysis of existing systems
  5. Identification of a strategy to meet requirements
  6. Design of a Records Management system
  7. Implementation of the new Records Management system
  8. Post-implementation review and ongoing assessment

ISO 15489 is however just one of several national and international standards that provide such guidelines. According to the World Bank, a properly functioning Records Management infrastructure within an organisation requires;

  1. appropriate management structures and trained staff,
  2. adequate and continuous funding,
  3. appropriate environmental conditions and physical security,
  4. awareness and compliance with legal requirements such as Data Protection, and
  5. computer systems that fully meet current and future business requirements whereby;
    • upgrades are provided when required to sustain efforts,
    • source data is well organised, accurate and easily accessible,
    • a reliable power supply is available with realistic back-up and storage procedures, and
    • adequate communications and sustainable technical support are provided.

The OIC Context

The OIC relies on records to conduct its business. Records are essential for the effective and productive functioning of the OIC and without a records management infrastructure the OIC would be incapable of managing current operations and would have only limited ability to use the experience of the past for guidance in future.

The OIC's records, both hard-copy and electronic, document decisions taken and activities carried out and serve as a benchmark by which future activities and decisions can be measured. Without proper management of these records, staff will increasingly be forced to take decisions on an ad hoc basis without the benefit of organisational memory. Records management is therefore inextricably entwined with increased transparency, accountability and good corporate governance.

The absence of a proper records management framework is directly linked to inefficiencies and increased costs. The OIC's previous policy of retaining all records indefinitely was inadequate and would leave the Office unable to cope with the growing mass of unmanaged records. This would make it ever more difficult for staff to retrieve the information they need to manage workloads and to make informed recommendations and decisions. The fact that the
Office creates, receives and retains both hard copy and electronic records would, in time, compound problems in this regard. Accordingly, it is clear that the OIC needs to ensure that its electronic information systems and databases are not set on top of an inadequate paper filing system which in time would result in two detached regimes that would become incapable of being managed in unison.

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