Organisations face increasing pressure to manage their records according to statutory and business requirements. Hence the adoption of records management programs. However, to be effective a records management program requires ongoing education to make sure the organisation adheres to the recordkeeping policy and understands their effects. A rigorous records management program is only as good as the employees who adhere to it.

The increased generation of records and implementation of systems to manage them has resulted in organisations pushing recordkeeping responsibilities to all employees rather than containing them to specific roles or teams. This means all employees need to be aware of records management and their role in contributing records to an effectively managed organisation. Training should be provided on records management concepts and its importance, and address organisational policies and expectations whilst identifying the responsibilities across the organisation.

E-learning can fulfil this need. According to Wikipedia, E-learning is procedural in character and aims to effect the construction of knowledge. It is learning through electronic resources which empower employees to take charge of their own learning. A replacement to face-to-face training, e-learning enables employees to develop skills with minimal interruption to work processes.

The benefits of e-learning include reduced training costs, flexibility of training delivery, easily updated training content, automated and continuously updated training records and quicker and easier access to training for new users and those needing refresher training. Additionally, e-learning can be customised to reflect the organisation which employs it. Specific business processes can be incorporated into the learning content, not only achieving the development of skills and construction of knowledge, but pursing governance of business processes.

Ensuring your staff understand their recordkeeping responsibilities is key to a successful records management program. Organisations must make ongoing training a priority if they are to meet statutory and business requirements.

More than just the latest technology buzzword, Web 2.0 is a ‘transformative force that’s propelling companies across all industries towards a new way of doing business’. Because good recordkeeping is an essential enabler of efficient and accountable democratic governance, like every other sphere, records managers must also evolve if they are to have a role to play in this new world.

Records Managers have eagerly adopted Web 2.0  in order to share information. After searching high and low I have discovered many blogs,tweets, RSS Feeds, Facebook Pages and Ning Networks used by information professionals. Here is a list of a few of my favourites:

But, as any good Records Manager knows, information comes in many forms, not just text. The Public Records Office of Victoria have a variety of podcasts which are informative but my favourites are those produced by Digital Preservation Europe with their comical take on preservation and digitisation! So I think it is safe to say that records managers and information professionals are jumping onboard the Web 2.0 force.

The challenge however, lies in managing the information for their organisations – who are also on board.

As a result of Web 2.0 applications, what constitutes a record has become confusing. Records developed from Web 2.0 applications which contribute to transactions of business or evidence, are essential to building an organisation’s memory. And as Musser and O’Reilly (2006) have declared – this is the new way of doing business! Therefore these ‘records’ generated in Web 2.0 applications must be tracked, captured and maintained like any other record. The challenge for records managers is to collaborate with members of the organisation to determine whether the uses of Web 2.0 applications are linked to a business purpose, and to develop and implement policies that cater for the fast and effortless creation of records. All the while, ensuring that they fulfil the international standard of being authentic, inviolate, complete and accessible (ISO 15489, 2001).

I am yet to see an information management policy on the use of Web 2.0 applications. Anyone out there able to show me otherwise??