4 - Two principles governing the management of records

Abstract

There are two principles within Archives and Information Science that govern the management of records and these are: the Life-Cycle Model and the Records Continuum Model (RCM). The Life-Cycle Model likens records to living organisms and presumes that they undergo three stages of life: the active, semiactive, and the inactive stage, when they are either disposed of or retained and preserved as archival records. This approach has mostly been applicable to the paper-based environment, which deals with physical objects. Developments in technology and the generation of digital records have rendered the Life-Cycle Model insufficient for the electronic records management environment. The RCM is promoted by its proponents as the most suitable model for the management of digital records because it combines the records and archival management responsibilities. This facilitates a proactive and holistic records management approach and further creates room for archivists to engage in the early planning of their management before they are created. The RCM has four dimensions: create, capture, manage, and pluralize. Unlike the paper-based environment badly organized records cannot be rectified in the digital environment and hence the need for proper planning prior to their creation. The model also has a pluralizing dimension, which promotes the reuse of information in different contexts and by different stakeholders. This is in line with the current global developments that emphasize the free flow of information from government institutions to the citizens. The intent is to reuse government information for innovative purposes. The author established during the course of her research in three municipalities (two in Sweden and one in Belgium) that in practice, those who managed records did not name their records management strategies according to any of the two approaches. It was her a priori knowledge of the models that facilitated her understanding of the model the municipalities embraced. The issue is whether the research that is produced within the Archives and Information Science discipline is well diffused, understood, and used by organizations. Best-practice models and standards should be employed by practitioners to enhance the efficient management of government records, especially now when government institutions are required to make their information resources available to the general public.