IM January - February 2010

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• How Do Your Organization's Risks Stack Up? Lessons Learned from the Financial Meltdown

  In the wake of the economic meltdown, all industries are paying closer attention to how they can minimize risks. Records managers have an important role to play in developing a strategy to protect their organizations' information assets. Read on for more ... or download the PDF version

• Leveraging Generational Work Styles to Meet Business Objectives

  Since the 1960s, when the term “generation gap” was first coined to describe the differences between the WWII population (the Silent Generation) and its offspring (Baby Boomers), generations have been learning how to co-exist. Pop culture is rife with attitudes and preferences based on generational differences – consider the Queen of Soul vs. the King of Pop. In the workplace, however, the differences can be muted, with changes developing below the radar. Read on for more ... or download the PDF version

• Management Wise: Killer Surf Issues - Crafting an Organizational Model to Combat Employee Internet Abuse

  Over the years, employees have been provided with uninhibited access to the Internet leading to a drain on time and budgets within organizations. With nearly 64% of employees claiming to use the Internet for personal interest during working hours, according to Snapshotspy.com, developing a policy is in your organization’s best interest. Read on for more ... or download the PDF version

• Business Matters: Ten Steps for Evaluating and Selecting Software and Service Providers

  Investing resources in preparation for purchasing software and services is the best way to ensure that your organization gets the best service and a quality product. Read on for more ... or download the PDF version

• In Review: The Ethics of Records Management - Adopting Ethics, Accountability, and Recordkeeping Principles

  Ethics, Accountability, and Recordkeeping in a Dangerous World by Richard Cox is a collection of essays on the ethical challenges facing records managers and archivists in the 21st century. It is intended primarily for records professionals, though it should be of interest to a wider audience. Read on for more ... or download the PDF version

• Up Front

  The latest news, trends, and analysis affecting you and your organization. Read on for more ... or download the PDF version (12 pages total)

IM March - April 2010

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• Managing Social Data: Is SharePoint the Answer?

  Records management (RM) professionals have been challenged to manage electronic data for some time. Their efforts have tended to focus on unstructured data, such as documents, scanned images, and spreadsheets. Recently, structured data held in databases has also come under close scrutiny, especially during discovery. Read on for more ... or download the PDF version

• Groundbreaking Trends: The Foundation for Meeting Information Challenges and Opportunities

  As the recession recedes, the future looks brighter and definitely more digital. Organizations will be altered substantially by information-centric collaboration, new web applications, proliferation of mobile devices, and younger, information savvy workers using social networking in unprecedented ways. Read on for more ... or download the PDF version

• Ready, Set, Whoa! Plan Before Implementing RM Technologies

  Congratulations! Your organization has made the commitment to move forward with an electronic records and information management (RIM) system. Through careful planning and research, you’ve found and selected the “right” solution and are ready to deploy. Now what? Read on for more ... or download the PDF version

• Business Matters: Stepping Up to the Plate: Developing an Effective Business Communication Strategy

  Virtually everyone reading this article is in sales, regardless of title or responsibility. How? Because selling, essentially, is communicating persuasively to get others to take some action, which is what all business professionals are engaged in most of the time. Gaining support for a records and information management (RIM) program (or any project, for that matter) requires more than sales skill, though. Read on for more ... or download the PDF version

• Up Front

  The latest news, trends, and analysis affecting you and your organization. Read on for more ... or download the PDF version (12 pages total)

IM May - June 2010

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• May-June 2010 - Complete Issue (PDF - 97MB)

  Download a free PDF version of the May-June 2010 Information Management magazine, which is specifically published for those individuals who have responsibilities around managing records and information. 

• Tips for Growing a Green Organization

  All records managers should think about the business benefits of greening their RIM program, which can contribute to an organization’s bottom line and make it a better corporate citizen. By consuming as few resources as possible and retaining only those records that are necessary, an organization saves loads of money, time, and energy. Read on for more.

• Can RIM Save the World?

  If you think that saving the world is a job for Superman, think again. Records and information management (RIM) professionals hold a pivotal role in promoting environmental sustainability and helping their organizations “go green.” They must be prepared to help reduce their organization’s environmental impact. Leveraging electronic records management (ERM) is one way to achieve this goal. Read on for more.

• Business Matters: Cleaning Up Your Information Wasteland

  A new strategic approach to records and information management called information asset management, as practiced in the U.S. Air Force, automates desktop records management decision making to minimize or eliminate the role of the desktop user. This approach, which solves the issues of e-mail records management and e-discovery, could be applied to other largescale enterprises. Read on for more.

• Tech Trends: Save Time and Money with Automated Process to Extract Relevant ESI from Tape

  Many organizations have stockpiles of backup tapes. Because they may be mandated to locate and retrieve specific content from these tapes for e-discovery, this poses significant potential financial and liability risks. New technology can automate culling of irrelevant tapes, indexing the remaining ones, and retrieving and archiving only the relevant content, resulting in significant savings. Read on for more.

• In Review: Growing a Greener Data Center - Is the Data Really Greener on the Other Side?

  The existence and operations of large data centers are transparent to most people who do not work in information technology management, but these facilities lie at the heart of many processes, applications, and conveniences that we take for granted in the 21st century. Although data centers may not occupy a prominent place in our collective consciousness, the impact they have on the environment is significant. Grow a Greener Data Center by Douglas Alger provides an in-depth analysis of the issues related to the planning, design, construction, and operation of a data center that has less negative environmental impact than existing data centers. Read on for more.

• In Review: Emerging Trends of Electronic Recordkeeping - A Public Policy Perspective

  What do emerging patterns of recordkeeping mean for our future? Suppose all of our documents – business and personal – were captured, preserved indefinitely, and indexed by a third-party service provider for quick and efficient retrieval. What will the loss of our ability to forget mean to us as a society? In Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age, author Viktor Mayer-Schönberger suggests that emerging patterns of recordkeeping creates risks to our democratic values and rational decision making. Read on for more.

• Up Front

  The latest news, trends, and analysis affecting you and your organization. Read on for more. (12 pages total)

IM July-August 2010

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• Taking the Lead in the Information Race

  Organizations already struggling with information chaos can expect the challenge of managing it to sky rocket over the next decade as the volume of information created each year increases exponentially. According to the recent survey “The Digital Universe Decade – Are You Ready?” by IDC, the approximately 800 exabytes – that’s 800 billion gigabytes – of information created in 2009 will grow to 35 trillion gigabytes in 2020. That’s nearly 44 times more than the 24 DVDs worth of information that was created in 2009 for every man, woman, and child on the planet. Read on for more ...

• Putting a Lock on Cloud-Based Information

  Increasingly, the records and information management (RIM) professional is expected to work cooperatively with information technology (IT) experts in the selection and implementation of communications-related products and services. Together, records managers and IT professionals can determine the organization’s needs and requirements for these technology tools. Read on for more ...

• Drafing a Function-Based File Classification Plan

  An intuitive file classification plan is one of the essential components of an effective recordkeeping system and key to reducing the risks associated with duplicate, inaccessible, or abandoned records. A good plan will also put an organization in good position to implement an electronic information management system, as it facilitates identifying and administering user access groups, assigning records retention and disposition, and using the search engine. Read on for more ...

• Career Path: Coaching for Professional Development

  Managers should encourage, foster, and support employees’ continual development as a way of helping them master changing work and keeping morale high. Especially in an economic environment where resources are limited, coaching and focusing on employees’ professional development will help keep them motivated and productive. Read on for more ...

• Business Matters: Think Outside the Box When Relocating a Records Center

  Although a facility manager will likely be responsible for coordinating your organization’s relocation, as a records manager, you will play a major role in helping them meet the challenges of moving the records center. That responsibility begins immediately upon learning of the potential relocation. Read on for more ...

• In Review: Taking a Path Less Traveled: Certain Success in an Uncertain World

  Luck by Design, Certain Success in an Uncertain World by Richard E. Goldman is a motivational and thought-provoking book that falls outside the realm of the traditional “self-help” books. Goldman began his career in a small, local clothing store that evolved into what is now the Men’s Wearhouse. He has taken experiences from his own journey through life, with its unexpected twists and turns, and translated them into a captivating, easy-to-read narrative. Read on for more ...

• Up Front

  The latest news, trends, and analysis affecting you and your organization. Read on for more ... (11 pages total)

IM September-October 2010

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• Complete PDF Version of September-October 2010 (8MB)

   Download a complete PDF version of this issue.

• Grasping Legal Holds: What Organizations Need to Know

  (PDF) Several high-profile decisions make it clear that courts expect organizations to manage legal holds competently and will issue sanctions against those that do not. Taking the steps outlined in this article will ensure your organization is well-prepared.

• Exploring Data Loss Prevention Systems for Legal Holds and E-Discovery

  (PDF) Data loss prevention (DLP) systems police electronic communications to prevent intellectual property and a variety of other sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands. This article addresses the challenge to records and information management, legal, and IT professionals, who must work together to ensure that the information DLP systems capture is addressed properly to meet the organization’s legal holds and discovery requirements.

• Analyst Corner: E-Discovery and Regulatory Demands Ramp Up Tech Adoption Plans

  (PDF) Results from this Forrester Research and ARMA International survey highlight dissatisfaction, major technology purchasing plans, and hurdles with complexity, high costs, and synchronization.

• Management Wise: Managing Records and Information Programs: A New Blueprint for Success

  (PDF) RIM programs need creativity, improvisation, and the ability to rapidly adapt to thrive in this turbulent environment. However, they have excellent future prospects, but steadfast, resourceful management highlighted in this article will be required to navigate and pilot them into that bright future.

• In Review: RIM Lessons from the Brave New World of Business

  (PDF) Nelson Lichtenstein's The Retail Revoluation: How Wal-Mart Created a Brave New World of Business is examined in this article and explains why it is an important read for records and information managers interested in the increasing globalization of business practices.

• In Review: Keys to Unlocking an Information Management Compliance Culture

  (PDF) Randolph A. Kahn and Barclay T. Blair's Information Nation: Seven Keys to Information Management Compliance, Second Ed. is reviewed and provides a rationale as to why it was written for a broad range of readers who are interested in ensuring their organization's information is properly managed.

• Up Front

  (PDF) The latest news, trends, and analysis affecting you and your organization. (11 pages total)

IM November-December 2010

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• Complete PDF Version of November-December 2010

  Download a complete PDF version of this issue.

• Drafting a 'Dream Team' to Prevent E-Discovery Nightmares

  (PDF) The proliferation and explosion of electronic information has forced IT, legal, and RIM professionals to work together to gain control of organizational information. The legal stakes are higher now and Amy Dove explains why in this feature.

• Making the Case for Merging Document Control and Records Management

  (PDF) Although document control and records and information management (RIM) employees share a custodial responsibility that includes identifying, protecting, and presenting their entity’s records as assets, they do not share the same focus on managing information throughout the entire life cycle. In this feature, experts explain what RIM professionals need to do to move forward and to take a more defensible approach.

• Management Wise: Harnessing the Winds of Change

  (PDF) Organizations change constantly. They are subject to reorganization, budget fluctuations, new business processes, new technology implementations, and changing legislation and regulations. Frequently these compel changes to RIM programs. Ganesh Vednere explains why RIM professionals must anticipate and be prepared to lead their organizations through any change that affects information assets.

• In Review: Computing in the Cloud: Management Strategies for the Cloud Revolution

  (PDF) Douglas Schultz explains why Management Strategies for the Cloud Revolution: How Cloud Computing Is Transforming Business and Why You Can’t Afford to Be Left Behind by Charles Babcock is a valuable resource for individuals needing to learn more about the basics of cloud computing.

• In Review: Preserving Archives and Manuscripts for Long-Term, Uninterrupted Access

  (PDF) Preserving Archives & Manuscripts, 2nd Edition is a helpful companion for anyone with cherished or valuable records. Author Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler lays forth a comprehensive guide for archivists and administrators that is sure to become a classic text, unseating its prior edition that served a generation as an industry standard. Learn why from author Elizabeth Newhof.

• Up Front

  (PDF) The latest news, trends, and analysis affecting you and your organization. (12 pages total)