What Is Records and Information Management?

Records and information management (RIM) is the field of management responsible for the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use, and disposition of records, including processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and information about business activities and transactions in the form of records. Records, therefore, have value and add to the intrinsic worth of the organization. Records need to be managed in a meaningful way so they can be accessed and used in the course of daily business functions throughout the organizational environment.

Records are recorded information, regardless of medium or characteristics, made or received by an organization in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business. There is consensus within the organization regarding how a record is distinguished from other non-record material, such as a convenience file or draft. How records are managed throughout their life cycle is formalized into the policies and practices of the RIM program.

The records life cycle consists of discrete phases covering the life span of a record from its creation to its final disposition. In the creation phase, records growth is expounded by modern electronic systems. Records will continue to be created and captured by the organization at an explosive rate as it conducts the business of the organization. Correspondence regarding a product failure is written for internal leadership, financial statements and reports are generated for public and regulatory scrutiny, the old corporate logo is retired, and a new one – including color scheme and approved corporate font – takes its place in the organization’s history.

Once a record is created, controls are triggered to regulate its access and distribution. A human resource employee may separate documents from a personnel file and keep them in a locked cabinet with a control log to control and track access. Role security may be set on a repository allowing access to approved users. Software may identify the official record, versions, copies, and distribution.

Just as the records of the organization come in a variety of formats, the storage of records can vary throughout the organization. File maintenance may be carried out by the owner, designee, a records repository, or clerk. Records may be managed in a centralized location, such as a records center or repository, or the control of records may be decentralized across various departments and locations within the entity. Records may be formally and discretely identified by coding and housed in folders specifically designed for optimum protection and storage capacity, or they may be casually identified and filed with no apparent indexing. Organizations that manage records casually find it difficult to access and retrieve information when needed. The inefficiency of filing maintenance and storage systems can prove to be costly in terms of wasted space and resources expended searching for records.

An inactive record is a record that is no longer needed to conduct current business but is being preserved until it meets the end of its retention period, such as when a project ends, a product line is retired, or the end of a fiscal reporting period is reached. These records may hold business, legal, fiscal, or historical value for the entity in the future and, therefore, are required to be maintained for a short or permanent duration. Records are managed according to the retention schedule. Once the life of a record has been satisfied according to its predetermined period and there are no legal holds pending, it is authorized for final disposition, which may include destruction, transfer, or permanent preservation.

Throughout the records life cycle, issues such as security, privacy, disaster recovery, emerging technologies, and mergers are addressed by the RIM professional responsible for organizational RIM programs. RIM professionals are instrumental in controlling and safeguarding the information assets of the entity. They understand how to manage the creation, access, distribution, storage, and disposition of records and information in an efficient and cost-effective manner using RIM methodology, principles, and best practices in compliance with records and information laws and regulations.

Know Records and Information Management (RIM) Terms…

Active record– A record needed to perform current operations, subject to frequent use, and usually located near the user.

Disaster recovery plan – A written and approved course of action to take after a disaster strikes that details how an organization will restore critical business functions and reclaim damaged or threatened records.

Trial By Tornado
http://www.arma.org/pdf/articles/TrialByTornado.pdf

Disasters Come in All Sizes
http://www.arma.org/pdf/articles/DisasterAllSizes.pdf

Emergency Management for Records and Information Programs https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1184

Disposition – The final administrative action taken with regard to records, including destruction, transfer to another entity, or permanent preservation.

(2006IMJ) Retention and Disposition of Structured Data: The Next Frontier for Records Managers (PDF) http://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1791

Electronic records management (ERM) – The application of records management principles to electronic records.

File classification system – A logical and systematic arrangement for classifying records into subject groups or categories based on some definite scheme of natural relationships representing numbers, letters, or key words for identification.

Filing systems – The systematic indexing and arrangement of records based on established procedures.

Establishing Alphabetic, Numeric, Subject Filing Systems https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1519

Active Filing for Business Records https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1003

(2002IMJ) Classifying Electronic Documents: A New Paradigm (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1241

Inactive record – A record no longer needed to conduct current business but preserved until it meets the end of its retention period.

Legal hold – A communication issued as a result of current or anticipated litigation, audit, government investigation, or other such matter that suspends the normal disposition or processing or records.

Legal Holds and Spoliation (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1507

(2005IMJ) Know When to Hold 'Em, When to Destroy 'Em (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1523

Sedona Principles: Best Practices..for Addressing Electronic Document Production https://www2907.ssldomain.com/arma/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1992

Life cycle – The various stages of a record from creation to final disposition.

Record – Recorded information, regardless of medium or characteristics, made or received by an organization in the pursuance of legal obligations or in the transactions of business.

Records center – An area for lower-cost storage, maintenance, and reference use of semiactive records pending their ultimate disposition.

Records Center Operations, 2nd Ed. (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1197

(2000IMJ) Outsourcing: The Right Decision? (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1321

(2002IMJ) Records Under Fire (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1266

Retention period – The length of time a record must be kept to meet administrative, fiscal, legal, or historical requirements.

(2006IMJ) The Risk-Cost Retention Model: Building a New Approach to Records Retention (PDF) http://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1807

(2006IMJ) Creating a Process-Focused Retention Schedule (PDF)
http://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1985

(2006IMJ) Condition Critical: Developing Records Retention Schedules (PDF)http://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1768

Storage media – The various types of storage materials on which information is recorded, such as paper, magnetic, microform, and optical.

(1999IMJ) Selecting Storage Media for Long-Term Access to Digital Records (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1369

Vital records – Records that are fundamental to the functioning of an organization and necessary to continue operations without delay under abnormal conditions.

Vital Records: Identifying, Managing, and Recovering Business-Critical Records https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1276

(2003IMJ) Prepared or Not ... That Is the Vital Question (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1314

(2003IMJ) Protecting Records - What the Standards Tell Us (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1219

Vital Records: Preparing for the Unexpected(online course) http://www.arma.org/learningcenter/onlinecourses/courselisting.cfm?CourseID=7

Take RIM Action

• Assess the organization’s current RIM state. Develop a snapshot of the organization’s desired state. Create a plan to implement or change the organization’s RIM program.
• Review disaster recovery/business continuity plans. Identify any new risks, organizational changes, or policy and procedure changes that may affect the current plan.
• Ensure that records management policies, procedures, and practices have been adopted successfully into the organization.
• Audit the processes of the RIM program to ensure compliance.
• Stay current with new laws, regulations, and organizational policies that may affect RIM practices.

Learn More about Records and Information Management…

Articles

Risk Profiler Self-Assessment for RIM (online subscription)
https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1463

(2004IMJ) RIM & ROI: Investing Wisely for the Future (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1494

(2001IMJ) The World's First International Records Management Standard (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1299

(2001IMJ) The New International Records Management Standard: Its Content & How it Can Be Used (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1295

(1999IMJ) Records Management: From Profession to Scholarly Discipline (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1376

(1999IMJ) Integrating EDMS Functions and Records Management Principles (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1367

(2003IMJ) Managing Electronic Records in the 21st Century (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1400

(2003IMJ) An Integrated Approach to Records Management (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1384

(2005IMJ) Lifting the Burden (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1729

(2005IMJ) Streamlining Enterprise Management with Lean Six Sigma (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1757

(2007IMJ) Beyond Features and Functions: Evaluating ERM Software Alternatives (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=2015

(2006IMJ) Condition Critical: Developing Records Retention Schedules (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1768

(2006IMJ) 8 Steps to Develop a Taxonomy (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1995

(2005IMJ) Controlling the Risks of Content Publication (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1514
(2001IMJ) Automatic Categorization: How it Works, Issues, and Impacts on Records Management (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1309

(2006IMJ) Dealing With Disaster (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1845

(2006IMJ) Standards: Not 'One Size Fits All' (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1806

Publications

Acumen’s Records Management Made Simple (CD-ROM) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1994

Winning Strategies for Successful Records Management Programs https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1200

Information and Records Management https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1057

ISO 23081-1:2006 Metadata for Records - Part 1 – Principles https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1520

Value of Records Management, The https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1147

Records Management in the Legal Environment https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1389

Electronic Records Retention: New Strategies for Data Life Cycle Management https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1203

ISO15489-1 Information and Documentation - Records Management - Part I: General https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1187

ISO/TR 15489-2 Information and Documentation - Records Management - Part 2: Guidelines https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1188

Records Management: Covering All the Bases** https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1438

Sample Forms for Archival and Records Management Programs https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1191

Law, Records & Information Management: The Court Cases https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1073

Glossary of Records and Information Management Terms, 3rd Ed. (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=2037

Managing Electronic Records, 3rd Ed. https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1199

Essential Elements of Local Government Records Management Legislation https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1158

Requirements for Managing Electronic Messages as Records (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1501

Information Nation https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1478

Professional Records and Information Management https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1185

Advanced Records & Information Management https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1005

Records Management: Making the Transition from Paper to Electronic https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=2003

Records Management (7th Ed.) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1189

Did you know…the monitoring and auditing phase of a program is often overlooked? An audit is an independent review and examination of records and activities to test for compliance with established policies or standards, often with recommendations for changes in controls or procedures.

Before processes are audited for compliance, a reporting structure and consequences for non-compliance is developed, executed, and communicated appropriately throughout the organization. To be effective, occurrences of non-compliance are consistently identified and rectified according to the policies of the organization. The monitoring and auditing of such programs generate actions for improvement and help to validate the program’s worth.

Learn More about Monitoring and Auditing…

(2000IMJ) Improving Corporate Performance through Records Audits (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1327

(2005IMJ) Risk Analysis and Control: Vital to Records Protection https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1738

(2004IMJ) Using ISO 15489 as an Audit Tool (PDF) https://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1475

Auditing an Organization's RIM Program
http://www.arma.org/pdf/articles/anderson.pdf