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.
My mother is 93 and living in a rest home. I’m not terribly happy with her situation and I’ve been reading Atul Gawande’s book “Being Mortal” looking for better options for people like her. I was surprised in the first few chapters to find some similarities with business information systems.
Business information, whether electronic and hard copy, holds valuable intelligence about your business activities.
Losing this valuable information, or being unable to access it quickly when needed, could result in loss of contracts and lower profits.
You’ve heard of the ‘Cloud’ and probably wonder what it’s all about. Although at a basic level it’s really only another term for ‘Internet,’ the ‘Cloud’ is a way of storing information resources so that they can be easily accessed and shared when you’re away from the office. Another major benefit is
A structured electronic filing environment works better than having a ‘bucket’ of items that you search right through to find the item you want
What does this mean and what is the difference?
I’ve never been a great fan of electronic document management systems. I can see how they can be useful but I’ve seen a lot that, in spite of hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to install them, are not used effectively because the people who are expected to use them find them too hard.
Now there are many reasons for this and it’s not always the fault of the system itself.
Have you experienced one or more of these situations?
♦ Wasted time looking for information that you have filed “somewhere”?
♦ Got frustrated when you can’t find a paper or email that you know “is there somewhere”?
♦ Had to pay tax penalties because your missed a deadline due to inefficient business processes?
Reports this week from the legal judgment on the failure of South Canterbury Finance (SCF) show how a big company that arose out of a small family business failed in part because the systems and processes in place didn’t work for a large financial company.
Brian Gaynor writing in the New Zealand Herald calls it “Hard lesson in how not to run a company”
Two weeks ago an arson attack on a local school destroyed several classrooms and the library. The school principal mourned the loss of the contents of the library including all the school’s archives. This was particularly poignant with events being planned to celebrate the school’s 125th anniversary later in the year.
If you’ve been following my blog you will know that I am keen to help businesses and government organizations to manage their business documents so they can find the one document they need when they need it. Now! Not half an hour after a crucial business meeting starts, or