It is inside, not on top

1
It is inside, not on top!

• Adèle van der Merwe
• CSIR Information Service
• avdmerwe_at_csir.co.ca

2
Understanding the terminology

• A record
• A record is anything providing permanent and
  final evidence of, or information about, past
  events
• A document
• A physical or digital entity which records all or
  part of a work or several works
• Electronic Document Management
• A system that allows an enterprise and its users
  to create a document of capture a hard copy in
  electronic for, store, edit and otherwise
  electronically manage documents, irrelevant of
  its format

3
Inside not on top!
Pentium 4 with 60 Gb hard drive
XP Desktop with 600 Mb hard drive
Poor planning garbage in, garbage out.
Information first, technology second!
4
Roadmap

• Management and preservation
• Experimental data/laboratory results
• Actual value vs. perceived value
• Policies and procedures
• Quality control
• Perfect incumbent
• Technological developments
• Organizational ogre

5
Management vs Preservation

• Acts
• Promotion of Access to Information Act (2 of
  2000)
• Electronic Communications and Transactions Act
  (25 of 2000)
• National Archives and Record Service of South
  Africa Act (46 of 1996)
• Etc

Management organisational process..strategies,
objectives, resources
Preservation ensuring stabilisation, protection
against deterioration, restoration of damaged
documents.
6
Management vs Preservation

• Access
• Questions
• Who, what and how
• Management
• Red-tape, confidentiality, control
• Preservation
• Questions
• What, how and software
• Management
• Backups, risk management, restoration
• Explicit knowledge vs tacit knowledge

7
Experimental data laboratory results
8
Experimental data laboratory results
9
Experimental data laboratory results

• Value
• Objectivity, accuracy, logic, growth, patents
  etc.
• Managing
• Date and time stamp, completeness,
  non-repudiation, single access
• Challenges
• Software, needs assessment

10
Actual vs perceived value
11
Actual vs perceived value

• Value of explicit knowledge
• Difficult to calculate
• Value of intellectual property
• Gadets/widget easy to determine
• Guidelines for setting price
• Handling fees storage, maintaining etc.
• Weight contents, timeliness, non-repudiation,
  etc.
• Market willing to pay vs willing to accept
• Are red-tape and costs going to kill us?
• Open access vs sales, confidentiality

12
Policies and procedures
13
Policies and procedures

• Whose responsibility is it?
• Registry (active records)
• Archive (dead records)
• Library (Information)
• EDMS (documents)
• What to avoid!
• Tunnel vision, assumptions
• Who should test/evaluate it?
• Current users, challenging clients,

14
Quality control
15
Quality control

• Real value vs perceived savings
• Penny wise or pound foolish?
• Ad-hoc or continuous
• What are you missing?
• Long term benefits

16
Perfect incumbent

• Mythical or real?
• Qualified, affordable, loyal
• Characteristics required
• How do we keep The Perfect Incumbent?
• Environment, reimbursement, recognition,
  challenges

17
Perfect incumbent is willing to adapt!
18
Technological Development
19
Technological Development

• Saviour or Nemesis?
• Possibilities
• Open Source database
• DSpace
• Document and Record Management software
• Hummingbird
• Record Management software
• TRIM Captura
• Information retrieval software
• Collexis

20
The organization ogre
Heavy handed approach!
21
The Knight in shining armour
Supportive, considerate and brave!
22
The magical kingdom Success!
23
Conclusion -

• It is inside, not on top!
• Contents first
• Decide on what should go in and how it will be
  used
• Technology second
• Identify the best tool for the job
• Take responsibility and decide if you want to be

24
Frustrated and angry?
25
Challenged and exhilarated?