Shares views on the increasing importance of records management in France, which does not have a long history of the concept, and the role of archivists and other information professionals in managing records in the electronic environment.
The paper is based on a keynote speech which opened an evening conference on records management hosted by the French National Archives at the Hotel de Soubise, Paris on 9 November 2005 attended by many French archivists and members of the ISO TC 46/SC 11 Committee responsible for archives and records management.
Concludes that different worlds of electronic document management systems and archives must come together, recognising their own strengths and sharing competences to enable more effective information management and add value to historical heritage.
Offers an insight into records management in France where the culture, concept an implementation of this discipline has a shorter history and is less structured than in some other parts of the world.
