The new Information and Records Standard from Archives New Zealand sets the scene for lifting records and filing out of the pre-digital age of paper files and filing clerks and into 21st century thinking about what constitutes information and how we think about it.
It gives us the opportunity to consider how the information held in records and archives fits with the other information held or used by your organisation.
Why?
The new standard includes ‘information’ in its title. A simple but significant step towards dragging records into the digital age and meeting the other formats of information (structured and unstructured) on an equal footing.
While no doubt there will be some discontent about some of the components of the new standard, nevertheless it provides a very sound basis for evaluating what is being done against what needs to be done to manage effectively, the information held in records and archives in public offices.
It definitely takes recordkeeping out of the past and into the future. That can’t be a bad thing, especially for those of you who are struggling to get a voice in your organisation about the importance of records. Now you can talk with authority about the importance of information as a strategic asset.
This has the potential to make big changes in attitudes towards records in your organisation so use your authority wisely.