Editorial

There is a theme running through this issue which may not be apparent at first glance. Four of the contributions are translations of papers given at an evening conference I was fortunate enough to attend in Paris in late 2005. But the theme is not records management in France, since the fifth article comes from the UK and is on the subject of computer forensics. The theme or common thread that emerges from all of the contributions relates to the recognition or lack of recognition of records management or records managers’ knowledge and expertise.

Madame Martine de Boisdeffre’s keynote speech at the opening of the evening conference provides the issue’s opinion piece. The conference was held at the Centre Historique des Archives Nationales, Hotel de Soubise in Paris on 9 November 2005 and hosted by Madame de Boisdeffre, Director of the Archives de France, the French National Archives, based in Paris and Monsieur Gerard Ermisse, Director of the Centre Historique des Archives Nationales, the Historical Centre of the National Archives. It was entitled “Experiences concretes de ‘records management’ – gestion des archives courantes et intermediaries” which translates as “Real experiences of records management – management of current and intermediate archives”and had been organised to coincide with the meeting of the ISO TC46/SC11 Standards Committee on records management.

Madame de Boisdeffre’s keynote set the context for a series of papers and presentations by a variety of speakers, three of which I am delighted to say are published here. She explained that whilst France is a country in which the archives profession has a long tradition and enormous knowledge and expertise,it does not have a long history of the concept of records management. But that is changing and records management is becoming increasingly important in France. She shares examples of what is happening and views on what needs to happen in the future, particularly in the electronic environment, in terms of different professionals – archivists and documentalistes or information professionals – converging and using their combined and complementary competences to achieve more effective information management to preserve and add value to the country’s historical heritage.

I have applied the principle of original order the three papers, all of which are real case studies, are presented in the order in which they were delivered on the evening itself. (I thought some readers would appreciate my efforts to apply archival theory in this context!)

Georges Willemin, Head of the Archives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva, Switzerland shares the experience of the ICRC’s approach to managing its records using an e-mail system. The reason for using an e-mail system lies in the significance of electronic communication to the organisation. The global nature of the ICRC means that communication, and,therefore, e-mail, is of primary importance. Georges explains how the principles of records management, as defined in the ISO 15489 Standard, are applied to the Lotus Notes system. The results of an independent expert evaluation of the system have highlighted the need to integrate other records, such as word documents, to avoid problems in the future. For the ICRC staff, turnover is high in the delegations so there is an ongoing need to train staff in records management to ensure the need to manage records, particularly through proper use of the official e-mail system, is recognised.

Olivier Loussouarn works for the Archives Service of the French Ministry of Justice. He is the users team leader in a project which has implemented a single, shared electronic system for managing paper and e-mail and files in all of the offices of the French Ministry of Justice’s central administration. Olivier discusses the situation prior to the system’s implementation,including the inherent problems, and explains how files are now managed in the new system through a basic data field called “file type” which includes retention information. Not only have there been improvements in mail and file management, more efficient handling of business and better public service, but also the Archives Service has been able to increase its visibility and role in electronic archiving as a result of being part of the project. Hence, this case study provides another example of how records management expertise is now being recognised and utilised.

Catherine Dherent, responsible for document management at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF) in Paris, shares the BNF’s experience of developing processes for managing their internal documents. Catherine’s case study is interesting for a number of reasons: first it concerns the management of an organisation’s own information where the organisation’s purpose is the management of information; second the design and implementation of recordkeeping systems methodology and best practice as outlined in the ISO 15489 Standard were used; and lastly, the importance of the role played by the library’s new president and chief executive officer in the success of the project. The latter is something that is well discussed and written on in the context of electronic records management but the significance here was perhaps even greater because records management is still not well established in France.

The final contribution is from Alastair Irons, a colleague of mine at Northumbria University, who introduces the subject of computer forensics. This is a subject about which I suspect many records professionals know very little,at least if I take my own situation and the results of a very small straw poll I conducted recently. Alastair explores the meaning, methods and techniques associated with the subject of computer forensics, by analysing the principles of computer forensics in the context of the four characteristics of records in ISO 15489. He considers the implications of computer forensics for records managers and recordkeeping and concludes that the disciplines of records management and computer forensics are potentially mutually compatible. Like risk and change management, computer forensics is an area that we need to add to our knowledge set and, returning to the theme running through the issue, one in which records management and the role of records managers, has not been recognised.

We have just two reviews in the issue but a number of relevant publications,due for release shortly, will be reviewed in forthcoming issues. Sue Childs reviews a book on a subject of personal interest as a researcher and someone who has conducted research into the management of research records, viz. The Institutional Repository by Richard Jones, Theo Andrew and John MacColl. And I have included a review of the second edition of Kenneth Megill’s book Corporate Memory: records and information management in the knowledge age.

We have received a number of very positive comments about the journal over the past year, about particular articles and generally about the timeliness and relevance of its content. The Editorial Advisory Board members can take much of the credit for expanding our network of contacts and contributing articles themselves. But is anything missing? What, from your perspective as a practitioner, an academic, a consultant, a student or other professional, would you like to see us include? Please let us know so that we can continue to make the journal as relevant as possible for the wide range of stakeholders in our fascinating and challenging discipline that we call records management or recordkeeping.

Julie McLeod