Pauline Joseph

Paradigm shifts in recordkeeping responsibilities: implications for ISO 15489's implementation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to point out paradigm shifts in recordkeeping responsibilities from records and information management professionals (RIM professionals) to knowledge workers, caused by advancements in information and communication technologies and by user and organizational expectations. The impact of these changes on the implementation of professional records management (RM) principles and guidelines particularly in ISO 15489 is discussed.Design/methodology/approach – The paper looks at the issues from an academic viewpoint by reviewing ISO 15489s RM principles presented in Part 1 and guidelines in Part 2 of the standard. The currency of the standard in capturing the changing practices that are flowing into RM approaches are then evaluated against four of the principles. These four principles are reviewed against three key paradigm shifts.Findings – The authors present evidence of significant paradigm shifts relating to changing technology, work practices, devolution of recordkeep...

Designing an effective EDRMS based on Alter's Service Work System model

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to develop a framework for electronic document and records management systems (EDRMS) as a Service Work System. This enhanced overview of EDRMS support strategies suggests that the increasing shift in recordkeeping responsibilities to users requires greater consideration of the core activities that should be supported by RM professionals. The paper seeks to examine the concept of records management (RM) service delivery using this model.Design/methodology/approach – The authors offer a complementary approach for EDRMS analysis, design and implementation augmenting the human computer interaction (HCI) approach. They show how ideas related to services can be incorporated into the existing RM domain and can enrich current approaches within this field.Findings – The changing context from records management suggests a need to shift the RM orientation from a systems domain approach to a Service Work System model. A reorientation of records management emphasises stronger con...

A case study of records management practices in historic motor sport

This paper aims to report on empirical research that investigated the records management practices of two motor sport community-based organisations in Australia.,This multi-method case study was conducted on the regulator of motor sport, the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport Ltd (CAMS) and one affiliated historic car club, the Vintage Sports Car Club (VSCC), in Western Australia. Data were gathered using an online audit tool and by interviewing selected stakeholders in these organisations about their organisation’s records management practices.,The findings confirm that these organisations experience significant information management challenges, including difficulty in capturing, organising, managing, searching, accessing and preserving their records and archives. Hence, highlighting their inability to manage records advocated in the best practice Standard ISO 15489. It reveals the assumption of records management roles by unskilled members of the group. It emphasises that community-based organisations require assistance in managing their information management assets.,This research focused on the historic car clubs; hence, it did not include other Australian car clubs in motor sport. Although four historical car clubs, one in each Australian state, were invited to participate, only the VSCC participated. This reduced the sample size to only one CAMS-affiliated historical car club in the study. Hence, further research is required to investigate the records management practices of other CAMS affiliated car clubs in all race disciplines and to confirm whether they experienced similar information management challenges. Comments from key informants in this project indicated that this is likely the case.,The research highlights risks to the motor sport community’s records and archives. It signals that without leadership by the sport’s governing body, current records and community archives of CAMS and its affiliated car clubs are in danger of being inaccessible, hence lost.,The research highlights the risks in preserving the continuing memory of records and archives in leisure-based community organisations and showcases the threats in preserving its cultural identity and history.,It is the first study examining records management practices in the serious leisure sector using the motor sport community.

Visualizing information in the records and archives management (RAM) disciplines: Using Engelhardt’s graphical framework

Purpose This paper aims to explore the concept of information in records and archives management (RAM) from a fresh, visual perspective by using arts-informed methodology and the draw-and-write technique. Design/methodology/approach Students and practitioners of RAM in Australia were asked to answer the question, “what is information?” in a drawing and then to describe the drawing in words. This produced a data set of 255 drawings of information or “iSquares”, for short. Compositional interpretation and a framework of graphic representations by Engelhardt were applied to determine how participants envision information and what the renderings imply for RAM. Findings The images reveal an overwhelming recognition in RAM of the diversity of media formats of information and the hyperconnectivity of information in networked information systems; and illustrate the central place of human beings within these systems. These findings offer striking, accessible illustrations of major concepts in RAM and enable new understandings through the construction of stories. Practical implications There are both pedagogical applications and practical implications of this work for students, practitioners and knowledge workers. The graphical representations of information in this research deepen the understanding of textual definitions of information. The data set of iSquares provides opportunities to create new storyboards to explain information definitions, practices and phenomena in RAM disciplines, and, to explain related concepts such as data, information, knowledge and wisdom hierarchy. Originality/value This is the first study in RAM disciplines to provide visual illustrations of information using graphical image representations.

Cultural Visualisation of a Cultural Photographic Collection in 3D Environments – Development of ‘PAV 3D’ (Photographic Archive Visualisation)

This demonstration illustrates the possibilities of new 3D technologies in conveying large scale historical photographic databases in interactive 3D virtual environments. We illustrate the visualization of the State Library of Western Australia (SLWA)’s photographic collection containing over 1 million photographs dating back to the 1850s utilizing Curtin’s Hub for Immersive Visualization and eResearch (HIVE). Our application was intended to explore the possibilities in visualizing cultural data sets on the HIVE’s Cylinder, a 3 m high, eight-meter diameter, and 180° cylindrical projection surface. Our demonstration illustrated the potentials of virtual environments in creating interactive information designs for photographic imagery, which can be explored according location, time-period, creator, and subject.

User difficulties working with a business classification scheme: a case study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a unique perspective into user difficulties working with the functional business classification scheme (BCS) to register, search and retrieve corporate information at the Western Australia Police (WA Police). Design/methodology/approach – This paper is a single case study. Questionnaire and interview data were collected and analysed from a sample of ten EDRMS users on their perspectives of working with the BCS. An interpretive analysis methodology was used, and inductive reasoning was used for thematic analysis and sense making of the textual data from the transcripts. Findings – Although the research participants were confident working with the BCS, they reported difficulties finding an appropriate folder that matched the information to be classified and deciding where to file the information. Participants reported that the design and structure of the BCS and training were identified as areas needing improvement. Research limitations/implications – Paradigm shifts in the record-keeping role from the professional to the user may have some bearing on the difficulties users face when dealing with their record-keeping responsibilities. The participants provided comments and suggestions for how to make the BCS more user-friendly, more meaningful and more aligned to the business processes of the users that are practicable and workable solutions for the records professionals to implement. Practical implications – This paper provides a unique user perspective of a BCS, their difficulties working with it and how these difficulties can be resolved in a government organisation. Originality/value – This paper provides a unique user perspective of a BCS, their difficulties working with it and how these difficulties can be resolved in a government organisation.

Advocacy for the independence of the State Records Office of Western Australia

Abstract Shortly after the election of the new Western Australia (WA) Government in March 2017, the new Premier, Mark McGowan, announced the first round of Machinery of Government changes to the WA public sector. The structural changes were promoted as creating collaborative departments focused on whole-of-government objectives and for delivering services in a more efficient and effective way. Part of these changes was to move the State Records Office of Western Australia under the State Library of Western Australia. The Australian Society of Archivists Western Australia Branch Committee discusses this act and the implications for the independence of the State Records Office.