The Extent and Nature of Computer-Based Records Management in the United States

Abstract

A national survey of records managers on the topic of computerization of their operations yielded surprising results. An overwhelming 92.4 percent reported that they were actively supporting computerization at present or planned to do so within the next year. The primary nature of the computerization was the use of microcomputers to track and manage physical, usually paper, records. The degree of computerization is related to the volume of records managed and the attitude of the company toward records management. The computerization of records management is only a few years old, yet the change has been rapid. Our findings indicate that the next step of Document Image Processing DIP where the records are also stored in a digital format is already underway and may proceed as fast as the first stage.