Is it Really Worth Investing in Records Management?

Conference 2010 S05 - Monday 10.30am

Investing in records management improves productivity. Investing in records management reduces overheads. Investing in records management reduces the time staff waste looking for information. Or so we have told our organisations and ourselves for decades. But is it really true? A superficial look at the literature certainly seems to suggest as much, but delve a little deeper and the case for begins to look a little more shaky as the evidence we rely on proves to be increasingly shaky.

Okay, so we’ve been quoting and requoting from the same seemingly entirely apocryphal source data for several decades now, but does it really matter? After all, we all instinctively know records management delivers the benefits mentioned above so what does it matter if we massage the facts to prove our case? And does it really matter anyway? Surely all this talk of evidence and efficiency is missing the point and ignores the quantitative benefits of improved corporate accountability and reduced legal risk that records management offers but which defy measurement?

If you agree with all or most of the questions posed above: take my advice and attend another session. If, on the other hand, you too are concerned by some of the claims we routinely make and the lack of reliable evidence we have to substantiate them; or if your management are already beginning to ask questions regarding exactly what benefits you and your department deliver to the organisation then you might want to attend.

Those that do will find out more about the JISC infoNet Impact Calculator, a freely available too designed to enable you to measure the return on investment of any change management initiative and to hear more about why we felt this tool was necessary.

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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