Bulletin 181

THE HOME OF INFORMATION AND RECORDS MANAGEMENT · ISSUE 181 · SEPTEMBER 2014 · £10.00

Your careerstarts here...

Specialstudentedition

Silos and spirals:

reflections of a new

professional in the

information age

p06

Making use of

social media

networks for new

industry

professionals

p12

Improving student

learning through

increased personal

interaction

p25

Newlylaunched

INFORMATION AND RECORDS MANAGEMENT SOCIETY 1

in this issue...bu etin september 2014

16

25

31

35

46

The iSchool @ Northumbria University:Student and staff reflectionsProf Julie McLeod & Dr Elizabeth Lomas

Improving student learning throughincreased personal interaction: anexperiment in tutorial-based delivery andpeer assessment Andy Dawson

IRM best practiceTaxonomy design best practices Zach Wahl

Hidden data silos and the information glut:how to combat them (part one)Dave Stafford

IRM meetingsIRMS Public Sector Group meeting, July 2014 Elizabeth Barber

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3

4

48

63

64

6

12

Who’s who

From the Chair

IRMS news

Industry news

Diary dates

New members

Students and newprofessionalsSilos and spirals: reflections of a newprofessional in the information ageJonathan Ellis

Making use of social media networks fornew industry professionalsKeri Gray

31 16

25

Improving student learning through increased personal interaction:an experiment in tutorial-based delivery and peer assessment

Taxonomy design best practices The iSchool @ NorthumbriaUniversity: Student and staffreflections

06Silos and spirals: reflectionsof a new professional in theinformation age

12Making use of social

media networks for newindustry professionals

Bulletin EditorJamie Burton AMIRMS, Tribal St Mary’s Court, 55 St Mary’s Road, Sheffield, S2 4ANTel: 0114 281 6100e-mail: [email protected]: @IRMSBulletin

Production EditorsRoy Webb, Hargrave Design [email protected] Duller AMIRMS FIRMS, [email protected]

PublisherInformation and Records Management Society®

Chester House, 68 Chestergate, Macclesfield, Cheshire. SK11 6DYTel: 01625 664520www.irms.org.uk

IRMS Executive CommitteeMeic Pierce Owen AMIRMS, [email protected] Dunning, Vice [email protected] Bridges, [email protected] Sammons AMIRMS, [email protected] Kearney, Communications [email protected] Hutton, Conference [email protected] Stephenson AMIRMS FIRMS, Content [email protected] Overton, Groups [email protected] Beale, Marketing [email protected] Poole FIRMS, Private Sector and CommercialDevelopment [email protected] Duller AMIRMS FIRMS, Training [email protected] Bridge FIRMS, [email protected] Cooper, Immediate Past [email protected]

IRMS OfficersNeil Reeves, [email protected] Crooks MBE, FIRMS, International [email protected] Leming, Private Sector and CommercialDevelopment [email protected]

IRMS Group contactsPublic Sector Group · Elizabeth Barber AMIRMS [email protected] & FE Group · Lee Shailer, Phil Oakman & [email protected] Services Group · Paul [email protected] Practitioners Group · Michele Noad &Melody [email protected] · Roger [email protected] · Claire Johnson [email protected] · Chris [email protected] · Patrycja [email protected] · Tim [email protected] · Matt [email protected] West · Carl [email protected] · Katherine Stevenson & James Lappin [email protected] of Man · [email protected] - Pascale [email protected] Republic · Tomáš Bezouš[email protected] · Frank [email protected]

How to join the IRMSGo to www.irms.org.uk/membershipPublished bi-monthly in January, March, May, July,September and November.Copy to the Editor to [email protected] by 15 September for November 2014 issue; and by 7 November for January 2015 issue. ISSN 1746-9465Printed by PK In-Print Ltd, tel: 01494 452266

The Bulletin provides a wide spectrum of opinion oninformation and records management matters: the viewsof the contributors do not necessarily reflect the views ofthe Information and Records Management Society®.

2 BULLETIN 181 · SEPTEMBER 2014

Information and Records Management BulletinIssue 181 · September 2014


from the chair

with Meic Pierce Owen · IRMS Chair

Friends - I am delighted to welcome youto this special students’ edition of theBulletin. It is a cliché to say that students areour future. However, it is also in no small part truein that it is new thought that keeps the professionvibrant, and new thought that drives the Societyforward!

‘The new’ is also the theme of this edition’s ‘Fromthe Chair’.

Firstly, I can announce the theme for our 2015Conference as ‘Information: the new currency’- atheme that we feel will enthuse and inspire bothspeakers and delegates alike. With preparationsbegun, major speakers confirming (watch thisspace!) and delegates taking advantage ofgenerous early booking discounts (see the Website for details), we are confident that 2015 will bea stonker of a Conference - bendigedig! …as wesay in Welsh!

Secondly, this year’s Strategic Executive meeting inJuly saw a recognition of the move towardsinformation and records being viewed andmanaged as a key corporate asset - in the sameway as human resources, finance and infrastructure(buildings and IT). This recognition lead to thedevelopment of both a new IRMS strapline andmission statement. These, together with definedareas of activity, 3 year goals and the ExecProgramme for 2014-15 are set out on page 5.

Also new is a team working approach which will,amongst other things, open up involvement in thework of the Exec team to more members of theSociety than has been possible before!

Next, hats off to James Lappin and Heather Jackfor the nomination received in the YouGov Awardsfor their wonderful podcast initiative! We await theresults with interest!

Further good news is the formation of two newIRMS Groups - firstly a SharePoint Practitioners’Group chaired by IRMS Practitioner of the YearMichele Noad with Melody Allsebrook which willbe a group for those working on the configurationand deployment of Microsoft SharePoint andsecondly a Property Group chaired by IRMSstalwart Roger Rutkowski which will be a group forthose facing the particular challenges of managingproperty records.

Still more good news again is the appointment of anew eofficer. A warm welcome to Neil Reeves,Electronic Information Officer with the BBSRC, whocame top of the pile in a comprehensiverecruitment process and who joined the team atthe beginning of August.

Looking ahead, the Exec team has a busy fewmonths coming up. In addition to continuing thework outlined in July, we shall also, amongst otherthings, be preparing for the 2015 MembershipRenewal process and also launching some newthings including… well, I am not allowed to say atthis point!

I can however draw your attention to the generouscourse discounts being offered to IRMS membersby those lovely people at both the University ofDundee (p48) and TFPL (p65). IRMS thanks eachof these providers for offering these significantmember discounts.

Finally, my personal thanks to our Editor JamieBurton and Designer Roy Webb for their effortsagainst the clock in getting this particular edition ofthe Bulletin to print on time! Top work gents!

Speak to you all again in November- happy reading!

Warm regardsCofion cynnes

Meic

n July, the Executive Team held itsannual strategic meeting. This is a twoday meeting at which the Exec looks atdirection and goal for the coming time.This year, with the nature of ourprofession ever-changing and evolving

and IRMS finding itself appealing to a broader andbroader range of information professionals, theExec also looked at refreshing our strap line andmission statement.

These are the products of the meeting.

1. A new strap lineThe new IRMS strap line, which will appear on theWeb site and in all IRMS marketing is:The interactive hub of the information world

2. A new mission statementReflecting the on-going change and evolution inour profession, and working within our stated aimsand objectives (as stated in the Society’sConstitution), our new mission statement is:to be the home of all those engaged in themanagement, governance or utilisation ofinformation

3. Areas of activityIn order to target our resources and maximise oureffectiveness, the Exec will focus its efforts in the

following areas over the coming time:

Membership and administrationThis covers activities relating to membership andto the workings of the Society.

RelationshipsThis covers activities relating to how we interactwith other bodies, organisations and stakeholders.

Profile and advocacyThis covers activities relating to how we portrayourselves and how we represent the interests ofboth our members and the profession.

4. 3 year goalsHaving established areas of activity, the Exec alsoset 3 year goals in each of these areas. Theseare:

In Membership and admin, to double IRMSmembership with growth across all sectors;

In Relationships, to build a network of beneficialexternal relationships; and

In Profile and Advocacy, to establish IRMS as aglobally-recognised body of expertise.


irmsnewsseptember 2014

The Executivesets a course!

I


5. Exec programme 2014-15Finally, the Exec set its programme for 2014-15 -a programme designed to deliver the first stepstowards achieving the three year goals.

This programme will bedelivered, for the first time,through a comprehensivesystem of teams, each ofwhich will look at a specificarea. Directors will remainin charge of their particularareas but they will beassisted in their work byothers, both othermembers of the Exec teamand, potentially andimportantly, by members of the Society who maywish to become involved in specific projects orinitiatives.

It is hoped that this system will both help achievegreater continuity (most IRMS activity is deliveredby volunteers who therefore cannot be expectedto provide continuous cover in addition to carryout their day jobs!) and also see members havinga greater opportunity to get involved in the workof the team, either on a single incidence basis orpossibly in a way that leads to a longer terminvolvement!

If you’re a member of the IRMS and are interestedin possibly becoming involved in our work, be itwith the Exec team or in the admin side of ourvibrant group network, please contact us to discuss

this further <[email protected]>.

As part of the programme forthe coming year, the Exec will beconsulting with the membershipregarding how the Societywishes to move forward in anumber of areas. Topics to bediscussed will include the natureof advocacy that themembership would like IRMS toundertake (for example, shouldwe be a Society that comments

on information-related news items?) and also thedegree to which the membership is happy toreceive targeted marketing materials.

In this, as in all matters, the Exec is at the serviceof the members of the Society.

If you have any questions or comments about anyof the above, please contact any member of theExec Team. Contact details can be found at<www.irms.org.uk/about-us/executive-committee> or <www.irms.org.uk/about-us/officers>.

As part of theprogramme for thecoming year, the Execwill be consulting withthe membershipregarding how theSociety wishes to moveforward.

‘It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is solittle useless information’


This paper is the winner of the Alison North New Professional’s Award 2014

Silos and spirals: reflectionsof a new professional in theinformation ageJonathan Ellis

The larger theorganisation, thegreater the difficultyin achieving quick,concisecommunication.

ow I hate to argue with aliterary great the size andstature of Oscar Wilde,especially as I’ve dug up anddragged this citation from thegrave for misuse and

misrepresentation in anunrelated contemporarycontext (that’s journalisticlicence for you), but I’m afraid Imust. Certainly, it’s safe to saythat in the modernorganisation there is a lot ofinformation; not all of it useful,not all of it well managed.

To be more accurate, perhaps the problem is notmasses of useless information, but simply thatthere is so much scope for duplication anddisorder – records stored in multiple locations andmultiple locations available to store records – thatit’s sent spinning and spiralling at the click of amouse. The results can be extremely difficult tomanage and add furrows to even the mostbattered brows.

I’m going to consider information silos and spiralsin a modern business environment; this willinclude the management of unstructured data (thesilos), corporate communication (the spirals) andthe coalescing crux of information and recordsmanagement professionals in supporting core

organisational needs. Indeed,having completedpostgraduate qualification inArchives and RecordsManagement in 2013, I havebeen working professionally incorporate recordsmanagement for eight months.Through attendance andengagement with professional

events, societies and communities, and reflectingupon common experiences and observations,these problematic themes seem ubiquitous across

the professional landscape.

Firstly, corporate communication. In anyorganisation this can be arduous, butoften the larger the organisation, thegreater the difficulty in achievingquick, concise communication: the

diseconomies of scale. If we considerthe usual method for e-communication

and recording decisions, the inefficienciesbecome apparent. An e-mail is sent to a smallgroup of employees for which sign-off on adecision is required. Several recipients makerecommendations and ‘reply to all’, others replyonly to the sender, and some forward it on tofurther stakeholders. Feedback is receivedpiecemeal from various sources and painstakinglycollated, before updates are made and an e-mailis sent back out. The spiralling then recurs, andfrom a little acorn the e-mail tree grows. Multiplythis across an organisation and you grow yourselfan almighty forest.

This is unnecessarily time-consuming, leads toscraps of information distributed haphazardly andsign-off on any decision becomes laborious andopaque. It’s the same effect as the document sentvia e-mail attachment, saved on a team shareddrive, multiple desktops, forwarded to others,saved again, changes made, etcetera etcetera.>>>>>


From a little acorn thee-mail tree grows.Multiply this across anorganisation and yougrow yourself analmighty forest.

N

>>>>> Multiple versions of the samedocument scattered in different locations; this storyis old, I know, but it goes on...

So, how to proceed? The use of enterprise social networks is certainly amove in the right direction. Indeed, creating avirtual collaborative space for discussion meansinformation need only be published or distributedonce. This is a more dynamic, efficient and fluidoption, in which all stakeholders can beencompassed in a permission-led environment.Networks such as ‘Salesforce Chatter’, somethingof a hybrid between Facebook and Twitter, can beused as a resource for sharing knowledge,submitting queries, conducting surveys andcommunicating details of internal events to your‘followers’. As such, it can alsobecome a valuable tool for theinformation or records managerto utilise; meeting the user intheir virtual spaces to promotebest practice, two-wayengagement and awareness oftheir service. Moreover, throughfollowing selected groups,enterprise social networksprovide a valuable window for keeping up-to-datewith the activities and events of key stakeholders,and therefore pre-empting any recordkeepingimplications they may engender (in essence, likesnooping on distant Facebook friends).

Undoubtedly, keeping abreast of new technologyand business practices is an important lesson for anew professional, as they invariably andinextricably have recordkeeping repercussions.Agile working is one such modern workingpractice. In a global economy, the fixed workspaceis outdated and impractical and so the tools toenable a more flexible and efficient workenvironment need to be chiselled. These includemobile and remote devices, alongside virtualspaces for communication. Essentially, work is nolonger the physical space, but rather the head

space. Conversely, records management teams willtypically be required to assist with the physicalimplications of agile working – including sitemoves, reduced storage space and restructures –but this also means engaging with technologies tosupport the core activities of the organisation.These concerns may extend into capturing recordsproduced through Web 2.0 technologies within agiven organisation, and thus understanding thecontext and content of these formats.

Nonetheless, amongst any developments toorganisational culture, we must always keepinformation governance and complianceemblazoned across our chest. After all, whereverthe record is created and stored, it is owned bythe organisation not the individual. Amongst

information andrecordkeeping professionals,the fundamental role effectiverecordkeeping plays inmaintaining organisationalcompliance is well established(although in anyorganisationalcontext suchmessages are not

always readily received, or noticed, untilthe products of our work are required). Thisinextricable relationship is supported throughsystematic approaches to retention, appraisal,management systems and training. In turn,accountability, accessibility, legal admissibility, andauthenticity of information and evidence aresafeguarded. Importantly, this extends intounstructured data.

The murky world of unstructured data is vast,sweeping and ever increasing. In mostorganisations this comprises a cocktail of dataheld on s-drive file servers, desktops, numerousMicrosoft SharePoint team sites (as organisationsincreasingly advocate this as the recordkeepingsolution), and documents uploaded in enterprisesocial networks.* Much of this often lays latent.


*The enterprise social networks praised by myself only moments ago do have important recordkeeping implications. Indeed, while internal guidelines maystate that documents should ultimately be stored in designated Enterprise Information Management (EIM) systems or platforms, users will revert to theeasiest and this may well include uploading to social networks.

Undoubtedly, keepingabreast of newtechnology andbusiness practices isan important lesson asa new professional.

Aside from the unnecessary e-storage costs, overretention and general inefficiencies this can cause,the very valid concerns here are the potential forpockets of semi-hidden information and thedifficulties this subsequently poses in relation toe-discovery and disclosure.

Hence, in any organisational context, there mustbe a real drive to situate records management ina position to readily thrust and force corecompliance-based messages on the agendaamongst business-wide, strategic and cross-

functional data related projects. Retentionschedules and standards setting out theexpectations and responsibilities of employeescreating and managing data are clearly valuabletools. However, their actual implementation largelyrelies on people and/or systems. Recordsmanagement is not the prime concern of therecord creator and they will invariably revert to theeasiest option. Therefore any standards or policiesmust work in tandem with the technical solutionsto unstructured data and actively synergise IT, legalcompliance and end-user requirements. >>>>>


>>>>> The mass move towards MicrosoftSharePoint – a Web application used to store,organise and share information – is reasonable. As the mantra goes, SharePoint supportscollaboration, quick access to information andstreamlined business processes. This ticks manyboxes, and the functionality and fluidity thatmanaged metadata, filtering and tagging canpotentially bring is welcome (as opposed to thefamiliar drilling down into numerous buried shareddrive folders). However, actual implementation canprove problematic.

Certainly, scalability is a major issue, and if massmigration is not systematically regulated, structuredand standardised from inception, SharePoint itselfcan become something of a sprawling oceanbeast: thousands of tentacles (or SharePoint sites,depending on your disposition) each actingindependently and with very little restraint.Undoubtedly, there is no point moving everythingfrom shared drives to SharePoint if it’s simplygoing to be managed chaotically in a shiny newlocation. Therefore, control should be executedthrough information policies, record categories,managed metadata and retention. If this is notpredefined, it potentially asks a lot of theuser. Moreover, if systematic training is notdisseminated, many employees will simplynot use it.

Therefore, across the professional landscape,solutions for auto-classifying records and


disposition are being explored.This includes integrated hybridsolutions, involving EnterpriseInformation ManagementSystems operating behindSharePoint for automatedretention based on record classification, in additionto records management functionality withinSharePoint itself.

Notoriously, records management capability inSharePoint has been limited. The lack of event-driven retention is undoubtedly a shortcoming,while supplementary add-ons are often required tomake it fit for purpose. However, pragmatism isparamount and the scope for systematic recordsmanagement in SharePoint is clearly far greaterthan that applied on the shared drives of manyorganisations. This also provides the option forusing ‘In-place Records Management’ (ie therecord remaining within a particular team-site) ora designated ‘Records Centre’, again posing thedilemma of balancing control and user flexibility.Experience suggests efficient manual declaration ofrecords is improbable.†

A phrase consistently uttered during postgraduatestudy was that ‘there are no easy answers’ tomanaging information in the ‘digital age’. I thought

this was a cop-out (I paid for answers!); however, Iam increasingly aware this is the case. There is no‘one size fits all’. An understanding of yourparticular organisational context is crucial and, asever, senior management support, organisationalculture, structure, budgets, scope and time-resources all need to be considered. Moreover, themeans of conducting business and communicatingis always evolving, and the modern, dynamicbusiness must develop accordingly. As a newprofessional coming into this environment, thescale and the speed of acceleration can beoverwhelming: stood impotently at the stable gate,

dressed in a cheap cowboycostume, lasso at the ready,but the horse having bolted along, long time ago. Thisparticularly seems the case inregard to unstructured data.

Nevertheless, what remainsunchanged is the fact thatinformation is the lifeblood of

good business and its usability – whether for riskmanagement, protection of intellectual property, oroperational purposes – is only as good as thedesign and implementation of the recordkeepingsystem being used. Retention schedulesimplemented through systematic, automateddisposition is the utopian dream. The reality is lessglitzy. However, this is very much a process andwhat’s important as information andrecordkeepingprofessionals is that weare actively striving tosupport fundamentalorganisational processesand developments in theinformation age. Thescarcity of informationespoused in Wilde’s gas-lit Victorian age is aromantic dream, but we must continue themarch into this bravenew world.


Retention schedulesimplemented throughsystematic, automateddisposition is theutopian dream. Thereality is less glitzy.

The AuthorJonathan Ellis is currentlyan Assistant RecordsManager at Unilever, andholds and a postgraduatequalification in Archivesand Records Managementfrom the University ofLiverpool.

† Additionally, the use of content type (reusable settings applied to categories of content), InformationManagement Policies, and the capacity for e-discovery controls, suggest some possibility for information andrecords management in SharePoint 2013.

Jonathan can be contacted at <[email protected]>

ncreased competition for fewer jobs inthe current marketplace means thatbeing right for a role on paper isn’tenough on its own.

That’s why you need to make sure that aswell as your job application and interview skills,your networking and professional developmentskills are also the best that they can be.

Whether you are a new graduate looking for yourfirst professional role, are facing a redundancysituation or looking to develop in your currentorganisation, making the correct use of socialmedia is essential.

Research announced recently reveals that the UKworkforce is confused about how to get ahead in aweak economy and land that dream job orpromotion.

As more and more companies, as well asrecruitment agencies, plan to invest in recruitingvia social media and reduce spending ontraditional job boards, it is essential today’s jobseekers pull out all the stops and develop a visibleprofile on social media.

Historically LinkedIn is the most professionallyfocused social network, so setting up >>>>>


Making use of socialmedia networks fornew industryprofessionalsKeri Gray

It is essential today’sjob seekers pull out allthe stops and developa visible profile onsocial media.

I


>>>>> a full profile there is vital. As with a CV,it’s critical to include work experience that isrelevant to the job you’re seeking, as well as a listof core skills and professional recommendations.

LinkedIn top tips Focus on yourself: Take time on social media toreflect on your current career status and moreimportantly, your career aspirations.

Build your network: Building and maintainingrelationships is a major component of a successfulcareer. Maintain relationships by recommendingand congratulating others in their careers –everyone enjoys being recognised.

Develop a keyword rich, complete profile:Companies and agencies actively search forcandidates among LinkedIn members by searchingon keywords for people with the requiredqualifications listed in their LinkedIn profile.

Share your contact information so others caneasily contact you whether you are actively orpassively job or employee searching.

Request recommendations from your networksas credibility is critical. Document achievementsand wins on LinkedIn to stay current and relevant.

Update your status and make sure your profileand photos are current.

Expand on your thought leadership; lead aforum or LinkedIn group; publish an article; start ablog or speak publicly.

Research: Make an effort to get to know moreabout your colleagues or partners and competitors– LinkedIn is a great place to start.

Don’t forget that you can network and contributeto the Sue Hill Recruitment Network on LinkedIn.We have an active job board, as well as livelydiscussions, industry news and links to our blog.


Twitter top tipsTwitter probably isn’t the first social network thatsprings to mind when looking for work and neitherperhaps is it the most discreet; however, there areways in which you can make a Twitter accountwork professionally for you. Itcan certainly be used as ameans of staying in touch, asan ideas exchange, a platformand access to opportunities.

• First impressions are just asimportant on social media, soensure that you set up aprofessional Twitter handleand description, as well as anicon photograph

• Be a thought leader, don’t just retweet whatothers are saying; create meaningful content thatwill capture attention and interest

• Participate in communities you are interestedin and follow the industry and people you careabout and remember to retweet and sharecontent

• Be concise, the character limitation of Twitter canbe used as a launch pad to your more detailedonline profiles — set up and tweet shortenedlinks to your personal blog or LinkedIn profile, forexample

• Job-related Twitter handles many organisationshave these and following them is a quick way tokeep up-to-date on job openings, rather thansearching the company's Web site

• Think ahead and build your network before youneed it; engage with people who do what youwant to do

• Showcase your personality, but keep itprofessional. Twitter is a great way to talk topeople about your interests

• Multiple accounts – remember that you can setup more than one account on Twitter. Keep oneprofessional and one for hobbies or interests

You can find Sue Hill Recruitment at @SueHillRec,TFPL at @tfpl_Ltd and IRMS at @IRMSociety

@Guardianjobs is another great account to follow,offering links to advertisements as well as jobsearch and career advice.

Continuing professional developmentIn the current market place, employers are notonly looking for candidates with quality ofexperience but also a sense of commerciality. Yes,digital and electronic skills, concise and

demonstrable experience, aswell as relevancy are all indemand, but for newgraduates great aptitude anda proactive attitude areequally valued.

Remember to:• Keep up to date with the industry• Take ownership for yourown career and development

• Assess the gaps in your experience and fill them• Make use of networking and social media• Join professional membership organisations such

as the IRMS

Looking to further develop your skills in socialmedia? TFPL runs a number of courses suitablefor all levels <http://courses.tfpl.com/services/courses.cfm>.

They have also published an interesting report inassociation with Business 360 – “The Rise ofProfessional Networks as a Resource”<https://www.tfpl.com/resources/download-tfpl-reports>.

Love it or hate it, I personallycan only see the power ofsocial networkingcontinuing to grow, as itkeeps individuals and thewider industry connectedand informed.

Sue Hill Recruitment andTFPL’s vacancies can beviewed at:<www.suehill.com/jsearch.htm><www.tfpl.com>


The AuthorKeri Gray

Keri can be contacted at<[email protected]>

@suehillrec or @tfpl_ltd

In the current marketplace employers arenot only looking forcandidates withquality of experiencebut also a sense ofcommerciality.

nformation and records managementteaching and learning, research andenterprise at Northumbria University isbased in the Information Sciencesdepartment. In 2013 we became only thefourth UK iSchool in the iSchools

organisation1, a collection of over 50 eliteInformation Schools around the world dedicatedto advancing the information field. For over twodecades Northumbria has provided innovativeinformation and records management coursesand research opportunities for students acrossthe world.

Our courses and our studentsAll of Northumbria’s information and recordsmanagement courses are distance learning orwork-based. Aimed at those new to and/or

already working in the profession, or a related one,they offer flexible study opportunities and a rangeof qualifications to meet the needs of part-timelearners to enhance their career opportunities.They include the PG Diploma/MSc Information andRecords Management course,2 the first distancelearning course in the field in Europe, and the BScInformation and Records Management, the firstundergraduate Honours degree in the subject inthe UK. Delivered over 2 calendar years rather thanacademic years, they are the shortest routes toachieving these qualifications. For those whocannot embark on a full degree course, individualmodules can be studied for continuing professionaldevelopment to gain credit and, working incollaboration with Tribal Group, we delivered 1-daywork-based courses for a UK high street bank withthe option to gain academic credit.

The philosophy underpinning the design of ourcourses is that:• Their content is a careful balance between

knowledge and theory and the immediate skillsneeded for managing information and records,linking principles and practice >>>>>


The iSchool @Northumbria University:Student and staffreflections

IProf Julie McLeod & Dr Elizabeth Lomas

1 iSchools <www.ischools.org>2 PG Diploma/MSc Information & Records Management<www.northumbria.ac.uk/?view=CourseDetail&code=DTPIFR6>


For over two decadesNorthumbria hasprovided innovativeinformation andrecords managementcourses.

>>>>> • Students study as a cohort, learning from each

other as well as their tutors by engaging intutor–led discussions as well as their own.Meeting at optional study schools in Newcastleand virtually through the e-learning platform

• Students develop the ability to identify, analyseand evaluate issues and undertake scholarlyand/or work-based research in order to producerelevant solutions

• Students develop as reflective practitioners sothat they are constantly challenging their actions,plans, theoretical models and perceived ‘best’practice, and are able to adapt to organisational,cultural and technological change

• The learning environment is rigorous yet flexible,accommodating student need and enhancingthe student experience

• They are accredited by the relevant professionalbodies eg Chartered Institute of Library &Information Professionals and the Archives andRecords Association

Our students really appreciate being part of agroup rather being an individual learner; they oftendiscuss work-related challenges and share whathas worked for them; many meet up atconferences and/or share what they have learnedfrom events they have attended. They recognisethe benefit of working to a set study schedule,


Over the last 20years, hundredsof students fromall over worldhave completedthese and otherprogrammes.

designed to allow some flexibility and although itcan be challenging, they know they are allexperiencing similar demands and support eachother. They enjoy the variety of learning methods,from the materials delivered viathe e-learning platform towebinars and tutor-led classes.These classes are “great fornetworking, discussion, reflectionand learning”, and the studentsare very appreciative of thetechnology and other supportservices eg the use of a.k.a.software.3 Students oftencomment on the excellent libraryservices they can access asdistance learning students, whichinclude not only remote access to manydatabases and the award winning NORA-federated search service, but also the loan ofbooks, wherever they are in the world.

Why do people want to study for a universityqualification in this discipline? Recurring themesin feedback from our students are that, for theexperienced ones, it confirms their knowledgeand skills underpinning it with theory, criticalanalysis and reflection; for those at earlier stagesin their careers, it enables them to learn thetheory and principles, develop their criticalanalysis, evaluation and research skills, to developthemselves and their organisation’s approach tomanaging records and enhance their careers.

What our students say and doOver the last 20 years, hundreds of studentsfrom all over world have completed these andother programmes. Many have moved ontomajor posts in the public and private sectors,some have moved to other parts of the world,exercising their influence, enhancing their careersand taking leading roles in the profession.

Three of our graduates are past Chairs of theIRMS and others have won awards. For example,

European Central Bank RM staff were awardedIRMS Team of the Year 2008, the same year thatDorothy Quinn won Network Ireland BusinessWoman of the Year, which she says the Masters

helped her achieve. This yearPaul Welch, Head of theKnowledge & InformationManagement Team andDepartmental Records Officer atthe Department for Business,Innovation & Skills, a 2012 MScgraduate, was awarded an OBEfor his work in records andinformation management as wellas his role during the London

Olympics and his local charitywork. While Jane Proffitt won

IRMS Records and Information Practitioner of theYear. Our graduates speak at conferences (egIRMS, ICA), collaborate in international research(eg Dr Johare, InterPARES Team Malaysia) andpublish in professional and academic journals. Dr Elizabeth Lomas has edited a book4 based onher PhD study, which was a 2013 EmeraldOutstanding Doctoral Research Awards5 for thesignificance of its topic; the engagement of peoplewith records management, and innovativemethodological approach involving over 80different stakeholders across the world in acomputer-mediated communication focused co-operative inquiry.

Our graduates are our greatest ambassadors,frequently recommending us to others and onlytoo happy to talk to others who are consideringembarking on a course.

Emergent themes from graduate feedback are:• The quality and relevance of the content and the

support they receive from tutors: “outstanding interms of learning materials and tutor support”,Trish Bailey; “I have seen the benefit of researchand learning and have continued this with theaddition of knowing where to look for the rightinformation”, Sarah Shelton >>>>>


3 Synercon a.k.a. ® software <www.a-k-a.com.au>4 Lomas E. (ed). Information Management Solutions: Communications and collaboration in a Web 2.0 world. Facet. In press<www.facetpublishing.co.uk/title.php?id=7180&category_code=402>5 Lomas E. Emerald Outstanding Doctoral Research Awards winner in the Information Science category<www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/research/awards/pastodras.htm>

MSc graduate Paul Welch receiving his OBE

>>>>>• Their increased confidence: “The feedback from

the modules has increased my confidence in myability to offer the best advice to my prospectivecustomers. This has been one of the bestoutcomes of the learning for myself and theorganisation.”

• Career enhancement: many have madesignificant career progression in a wide range ofjobs, some have established their own companiesor are consultants. Others have moved overseasand are applying their knowledge and skills in notonly different companies but different locationssuch as Australia and New Zealand

• Value for their organization: most of all yourorganisation will certainly benefit from sponsoringyou through the course”, Jane Proffitt; “from thediscussions [with work colleagues] we were ableto identify and share how our collective learningcould be of a tangible benefit to our organisation”,Andy Satchwell

Case examplesSarah Shelton and Andy Satchwell, both BusinessDevelopment Managers for TNT BusinessSolutions who provide records managementservices to organisations, recently studiedtwo of our records management modules aspart of a Foundation Degree. Both found themodules extremely beneficial in their rolesfor their organization and their customers.

Sarah Shelton:“I loved the course and have found itincredibly useful in my day-to-day job. It isessential that I understand the value of goodrecords management practices, the associatedrisks and the benefits of managing recordseffectively. I already had a working knowledgein the industry and experience of delivering RMprojects for customers. I wanted to study thiscourse to learn about the practice andprinciples from a theoretical point of viewand to also understand the currentlegislation. I felt this would allow me toprovide a better service to both theorganisation and my customers. The

RM modules have given me the depth ofknowledge required to effectively provide solutionsto new and existing customers.

“The tutors put the RM principles into context forboth physical and digital records and informationmanagement. This has been invaluable to me withthe increase in customers embarking on thephysical to digital journey. I am now able to applymy expertise to promote good information andrecords management within organisations andidentify relevant strategies for managinginformation. This course proves insight into howrecords management effects organisations and theassociated benefits and risks. This is provinginvaluable for my role and my organisation.

“Professor Julie McLeod and Dr Elizabeth Lomaswere both fantastic tutors, incredibly interesting


Many have madesignificant careerprogression in a widerange of jobs, somehave establishedtheir own companiesor are consultants.

and passionate about this subject and wouldencourage and support anyone in this field. Theyhad a great balance of encouraging discussionand questioning of the group’s current knowledgeand working practices along with providing realinsight into the theoretical information. Theyimmediately had respect from the students dueto their profession, networks, experience andknowledge of the industry, acts and relevantmodels. I enjoyed discussing recordsmanagement with like-minded individuals andgaining learning and insight from them. I nowhave a real network of people to call uponshould I need advice around a particular issue orquestion in the future. I also have the desire formore learning and the ability to carry this out withconfidence.”

Andy Satchwell:“I wanted to expand on my knowledge andimmediate skills in this field thus enabling me tohave a greater awareness of how themanagement of information and recordssupports organisations to do business effectively.Through gaining a greater understanding of theconcepts, principles, practices and tools ofinformation and records management, I wantedto learn more about what challengesorganisations faced and how my organisation canpotentially support them in meeting these.Gaining a greater understanding of theimportance of effective records management hashelped me professionally both through myinternal interactions and externally when speakingto new or existing clients.

“The learning materials and tutor support wereoutstanding and the learning gained fromstudying these RM modules have been of a greatbenefit to myself and my colleagues. Ourenhanced expertise, skills and knowledge Ibelieve has further helped ensure our customersreceive a superior standard of service.”

Both Sarah and Andy found the assignment thatcritically evaluated principles in practiceparticularly valuable for their current roles. Itallowed Sarah to focus on a particular customer,identify a gap in their records managementprocesses, explain it to the customer and enabled


them to make great improvements in themanagement of their records. For Andy, by basingit on a live project he was managing at the timefor a public sector organisation, he was able toapply his learning in a real-life context andrecommend how TNT, through best practice, couldbenefit that organisation in meeting their recordsorganisation and storage requirements.

Jane Proffitt, Secretary of the IRMS Public SectorGroup studied while she was progressing in hercareer in British Telecom:

“The organisation [British Telecom] were only toopleased to sponsor me through the course, sharingmy knowledge and information back at theworkplace certainly benefited the organisation interms of moving RM way up the agenda and intothe Board Room, so much so I talked my way outof my own role by outsourcing the physicaloperation in its entirety. I put into practice what Ihad learnt during my period of studying. Thecourse was designed to ensure you worked withother colleagues on >>>>>

>>>>> occasions, which was a greatopportunity to share thoughts and ideas. Thediscussion threads were great too on the uniportal. The tutors always had time for you.Studying remotely was always a risk to me as I stilldo much prefer the classroom environmentapproach, but I have to say, support was never anissue and you never felt alone.”

With encouragement from her supervisor, Janewrote a book6 based on her dissertation, got itpublished and soon after launched her owncompany.

Brendan Murphy (2006 graduate) describesstudying the MSc in Records Management as “oneof the best moves I have ever made/bestdecisions of my life” saying:

“I found myself with not only a new set ofclassmates and a lifelong set of friends, but also avaluable resource for years ahead. The coursetutors and course material including the supportsystem for assignments were excellent andexceeded my expectations. We had a terrific butchallenging time interacting both workwise andsocially and indeed many of us continue to liaiseon both counts regularly. I felt that I began tocontribute even more effectively in my role as aProject Manager within a major Public Servicesorganisation. Qualifications of this nature were


Our courses are regularlyreviewed and constantlyupdated based on studentfeedback and developmentsin the field.

6 Proffitt J. (2011). A Guide to OutsourcingRecords Management. 2011 Routledge.

actually scarce within my organisation and I soonfound myself heavily involved in many majorprojects requiring records management expertiseand significant input.”

Later, following early retirement Brendan says:

“all sorts of opportunities began to open up allcentred around my qualifications and expertise. I was approached by a leading recordsmanagement consultancy company and offeredsome work in this field. I accepted and thoroughlyenjoyed the new challenge and experience andwithin a year had set up my own companyfocusing on records management activity, ablycomplemented by my project management skills.7

I have now been operating for 3 years striving toachieve a balance between undertaking a varietyof projects in the public and private sectors andtaking time out to enjoy my grandchildren.”

New coursesOur courses are regularly reviewed and constantlyupdated based on student feedback anddevelopments in the field. Our new courses havebeen developed in collaboration with otheruniversity colleagues.

PG Certificate Data Protection Law andInformation GovernanceA collaboration with the Schoolof Law, this course recognisesthe relationship betweeninformation governance andsecurity, and the legislationgoverning data protection.Specifically designed with theproposals of the draft EU DataProtection Regulation in mind and in particular thededicated Data Protection Officer, it is directlyrelevant for data protection officers, informationrights practitioners, information and recordsmanagers, information governance managers andthose responsible for data security, data handlingand sharing. Its two modules provide in-depthknowledge and understanding of the law relatingto personal data and concepts, standards and

frameworks for designing and delivering effectiveinformation governance, management and securitysystems and procedures.<https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/study-at-northumbria/courses/data-protection-law-and-information-governance-dl-dtpdpl6/>

MSc Cyber SecurityDesigned around the certification requirementsspecified by GCHQ for cyber security Mastersdegrees, students will be supported by academicsand practitioners, expert in the fields of cybersecurity, network security and informationgovernance to develop both practical andacademic skills required for the fight against cyberwarfare. The learning will be delivered via weekendstudy schools at Northumbria’s London campus.<https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/our-campuses/london-campus/>

MSc Information Governance and e-DisclosureThis course builds on our existing experience andprovision in digital forensics and information andrecords management. It addresses a gap highlightedin feedback from employers, noting the continuingimportance of information governance and rapidlyexpanding e-discovery and disclosure industry andthe lack of any kind of postgraduate course in thisparticular subject area. Possible career paths for

graduates will be with globallaw and informationgovernance companies,corporate legal departments, e-discovery software companies,digital forensic or e-discoveryprivate sector agencies andgovernment organisations.

Other plansOther plans include new postgraduateprogrammes in data science and businessinformation systems.

Our research Our research falls in the iSchool’s Digital Libraries,Archives and Records Management researchtheme.8 We explore the way digital >>>>>


Other plans includenew postgraduateprogrammes in datascience and businessinformation systems.

7 Brendan M. MSc BA FIIE FMS <www.crossmoreconsulting.com>8 Digital Libraries, Archives and Records Management research. See also Library & Information Management Research<https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/research/research-areas/library-and-information-management>

>>>>> information is used and managed, inparticular the people, processes and systemsaspects of managing records in digitalenvironments, where boundaries betweenpersonal and business information cansometimes become blurred. It enables a betterunderstanding of governance, assurance and risk,authenticity, behaviour, processes and systems,preservation, access and retrieval.

Key projects include AC+erm, an internationalstudy on e-records management, which led to areconceptualisation of the ERM challenge andhow to address it. This project has impact on theacademic and professionalcommunities across the world,including the United NationsArchives & RecordsManagement Service, NewYork.9 Outputs from theDATUM projects10 onmanaging research data arealso being used across theworld. Current projects include one with theUniversity of Oxford (2014–2016) on the historyof the development of Victorian professions,11

another on sensitivity review with The NationalArchives and ARaDD, funded by the Digital R&DFund for the Arts, on defining research anddevelopment in the cultural sectors.12 A newproject in collaboration with Aberdeen Universityaims to use semantic technologies to supportvisualisation of combined linked datasets in thecultural heritage domain.

The iSchool has a large group of doctoralstudents based in the UK and overseas, some ofwhom are/have studied for a PhD in the

information and records management discipline.Topics range from education and training to riskmanagement, engagement with recordsmanagement and managing marginalised records.We also offer a part-time Professional Doctorate(D Info Sci), which is particularly suited to thoseworking in the profession who wish to study atDoctoral level.

We aim to make all of our research freelyaccessible via the Web for professionals andacademics everywhere and of course both staffand students publish in a variety of places. Visittheir Web pages or search for us on the university

repository.13 Recent examplesinclude a contribution to aforthcoming encyclopaedia anda special issue of Archives &Manuscripts on reinventingarchival methods.14–16

Northumbria has a long-standing reputation for being a

pioneer in both teaching and research in theinformation and records management field and itsstaff are well-known and respected around theworld. They work closely with students, whether itis as part of a taught programme or a researchproject, to give them the best student experiencepossible.

To discuss these courses or to find out more aboutstudying at Northumbria University, please contact JulieMcLeod +44 (0) 191 227 3764<[email protected]> orElizabeth Lomas<[email protected]>


The AuthorsProf Julie McLeod,Professor in RecordsManagement.

Dr Elizabeth Lomas,Research Fellow andAssociate Lecturer.

Julie can be contacted at<[email protected]>

Elizabeth can be contactedat <[email protected]>

9 AC+erm: Accelerating positive change in electronic records management <www.northumbria.ac.uk/acerm> 10 DATUM: Managing research data <www.northumbria.ac.uk/datum>11 Victorian Professions <www.victorianprofessions.ox.ac.uk>12 ARaDD: helping define R&D for the cultural sector. Digital R&D Fund for the Arts<artsdigitalrnd.org.uk/features/introducing-aradd-helping-define-rd-for-the-cultural-sector> See also<https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/ee/work/research/clis/dlar/rdarts/?view=Standard> 13 Northumbria Research Link <http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/> 14 McLeod J & Lomas E. ‘Records Management’. Entry for the Encyclopaedia of Archival Concepts, Principlesand Practices, L Duranti & P Franks (eds), Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group. Forthcoming 2014. 15 McLeod, J. Reinventing archival methods: Reconceptualising ERM as a wicked problem. Archives &Manuscripts 2014;42(2): (Special Issue June). 16 Recordkeeping Roundtable <http://rkroundtable.org/>

We aim to make all ofour research freelyaccessible via the Webfor professionals andacademics everywhere.


Andy Dawson

his paper reports on anexperiment in the UniversityCollege London Department ofInformation Studies (UCL DIS)to investigate the effects,particularly in terms of student

satisfaction, of a change in module deliveryfrom a ‘traditional’ lecture-plus-exercises formatassessed by essay and exam, to a tutorial-based system with substantial peer assessment.

As Director of Studies and Director of the MScInformation Science programme (MScIS) atUCL DIS it is part of my responsibility toconstantly review what is the most effectiveway to deliver our teaching and maximise theeffectiveness (and enjoyability!) of ourstudents’ learning experience. As an educator, Ihave always remembered the example of theslave boy learning how to solve the geometricalpuzzle when prompted by Socrates’ questions(in Plato’s Meno1), demonstrating his theory ofanamnesis.

I have always believed that some of the bestlearning occurs when students engage indialogue, Socratic or otherwise. There alwayshave been, and always will be, argumentsabout the value of different methods ofteaching and learning in differentcircumstances. When I contemplate why theperennially most successful universities haveattained and retain their positions, it >>>>>

Improving student learning throughincreased personal interaction: an experiment in tutorial-baseddelivery and peer assessment

T

1 Plato: Meno. (Trans. Jowett)


>>>>> seems to me that one key element ofthis is the tradition of regular personal academictutoring and the application of this method. In1851, the Oxford University Tutors’ Associationpublished its Recommendations respecting theextension of the University of Oxford, wherein itwas primarily noted:2

“1: that in each [of the recommendations] theprinciple of domestic and personalsuperintendence by recognised tutors is carefullypreserved: or rather, may we say, is enforced andstrengthened by the closer intercourse betweentutor and pupil, for which each plan provides”(p29)

2 Oxford University Tutors’ Association: Recommendations respecting theextension of the University of Oxford. 1852 p29


This notion of the importance of personaldevelopment through interaction with tutors atOxford 160-odd years ago is still a defining aspectof the system of education at the university. Itwould also seem that more latterly not only areother institutions increasingly (re)recognizing thevalue of such interactions, but also students themselves are starting to demand it.3 With anincreasing focus on the importance of developingpersonal transferable skills in the job market, therelevance of developing criticalargumentation skills isobvious. To my mind, thismethod is a key to developingacademic critical thinking.Therefore, trying to find a wayto incorporate more of thiskind of intercourse to improvestudent learning despite theconstraints of staff time andstudent numbers led to theexperimental project weundertook.

It was therefore decided that we would modify thedelivery of one of our modules to maximise tutorcontact and opportunity for dialogue. We selecteda core module in the MScIS programme(Fundamentals of Information Science) at thetestbed for a number of reasons. Firstly, as it was amodule hinged on thinking about different (andoften conflicting) ideas and theories, it was anexcellent source of material and topics fordiscussions. Secondly, it was currently taught inexactly the same manner, by the same tutor, tothe same core group of students, as anothermodule (Systems Management) and the twomodules had perennially received broadlyequivalent (positive) feedback in studentevaluations, thus providing the opportunity forsimple direct comparison by means of a muchextended student feedback exercise. Lastly, thecohort was relatively small, limited for the year to 20.

The module had previously been taught as tenweekly 3-hour blocks, with each block containing

primarily lecture material supplemented byexercises and group discussions with most weeksbeing dedicated to a single topic, eg theories ofinformation. Unfortunately, it was simply notfeasible to find the time for individual weeklytutorials. However, a compromise was struck byrestructuring the heart of the module as eightweekly 1-hour small group (five student) tutorials.These would incorporate peer assessment ofparticipation, on the presumption that beneficial

dialogue could and would alsooccur between students in thesessions, and the peerassessment element wouldencourage further engagement(and also make a small savingfor the tutor on assessmenttime). These sessions were tobe top-and-tailed with one 3-hour introductory whole-groupsetup session, primarilyfocused on preparing students

for the peer review process and one final 3-hourwhole-group revision and review session.Assessment was changed to be 50% peerassessment conducted weekly in the tutorials, plus50% final exam.

Obviously a number of concerns about theseproposed changes had to be considered. First andforemost was a fear that some students mightreject the exercise as in some way compromisingtheir education and/or marks. They might not becomfortable with the peer assessment process,and/or might try to undermine or manipulate it;they might not feel comfortable having to activelyparticipate in discussion (a particular worry as asubstantial proportion of our students haveEnglish as a second language, or come fromcountries with a more didactic educationaltradition); or they might simply feel shortchangedby getting only 1 hour’s contact time per weekinstead of 3, and having to do a lot of groundworkthemselves. Accordingly we made sure to informthe students of the experimental changes well inadvance, designed the assessment methods toprovide a substantial safety net >>>>>

3 Tryfona C, Tryfonas T, Levy J, Hughes N: Personal Tutoring and Key Skills Development in Higher Education: Experiences and Challenges. Proceedings ofthe HEA STEM Learning and Teaching Conference. 2013

First and foremost wasa fear that somestudents might rejectthe exercise as in someway compromisingtheir education and/ormarks.

28

>>>>> (more below), and mostimportantly, involved them heavily with thesetup of the peer assessment procedure,a step almost universally considered tobe essential in such systems (egFalchikov,4 Sivan,5 Tillema6).

The initial group session focusedon preparing the students forwhat to expect, and to encouragethem to take ownership of the peerassessment process. To simplifyassessment and record-keeping, asimple five-step grading systemwas proposed, with marks in 10%bands limited to 40% (min) and80% (max). Two key intentionsinformed this decision: 1. to help simplifydecisions about what mark to give (it beingrelatively easy to decide between 1 insufficient, 2adequate, 3 good, 4 very good, and 5 exceptional,rather than something more granular); and 2. toensure failure was difficult to achieve (the passmark being 50%). Further safety nets were appliedby allowing the tutor to moderate any markconsidered unjustified (although in practice thisoption never needed to be exercised). Onlythe best 4 weeks worth of grades out of 8were counted for each student in the finalmark (to allow for ‘off days’ and subjectswhich caused any given studentparticular difficulty). However, althoughthis was offset by agreement thatthere would be a mandatoryreduction in overall marks for anymissed sessions, so evading theprocess or ‘copping out’ wouldbe very detrimental mark-

BULLETIN 181 · SEPTEMBER 2014

4 Falchikov, N: Improving assessmentthrough student involvement: Practicalsolutions for aiding learning in higher andfurther education. Routledge, 2005.5 Sivan A: The implementation of peerassessment: an action research basedapproach. Assessment in Education:Principles Policy and Practice 2000 7(2)193–213 6 Tillema, H: Student Involvement inAssessment of their Learning. In:Wyatt-Smith C, Klenowski V, Colbert,P (Eds): Designing Assessment forQuality Learning: 2014 Springer,pp39–53


wise. The weighting of the peer assessment washeld at 50% so that the conventional exam wouldhave equal impact on the final result, to betterenable those who might prefer a differentmethod of assessment.

After a brief tutor-led presentation, the studentsbrainstormed for appropriate criteria to apply forpeer assessment, and then selected andamalgamated them to produce a final list of ten(see appendix 1). The students were also askedwhether they wanted assessments to beanonymous or not, and they initially almostunanimously voted for face to face feedback (butmore on this later). The tutorthen performed a practice rundiscussion and assessment withsome of the students in front ofthe whole class, to demonstrateit working. This went well andeveryone seemed to be lookingforward to the real thing.

As a subsidiary part of theexperiment, the topics fordiscussion and the materials explicitly provided forpreparation were varied from week to week.Sometimes there was a specific question or task(eg to investigate three theories of informationand come prepared to speak about them),sometimes something more general (eg comeprepared to discuss concepts quality and ethics ininformation work). Specified resources variedfrom book and journal references, to onlinesources, to video lectures, to experimental tasks.Students also had a traditional reading list andwere encouraged to supplement their weeklypreparation from other resources of their ownchoosing.

Although the initial round of tutorials was naturallya little reserved, it was clear that the basic ideawas working. All the students were participating(even if some of the more reticent ones neededa slight prod to get started) and from the outsetthere was plenty of questioning and evidence ofcritical thinking amongst the students withminimal tutor input required. Students remainedin their groups for 4 weeks and then were

switched to provide a wider exposure to differentviews. At the end of the module, a substantialstudent evaluation questionnaire was completed,with an additional follow-up questionnaire afterthe comparison Systems Management modulehad finished.

Gratifyingly, the tutorials achieved 100%attendance and the main questionnaires achieveda 100% return rate, despite their length andcomplexity, with many comments made by themajority of respondents. The peer assessmentsystem proved simple to administer and appearedgenerally to be very honestly and appropriately

applied.

The main questionnaire wasdelivered via SurveyMonkeyand comprised 34 elements,which were mostly eitheryes/no questions or five-point Likert scales, relating tostudents’ perceptions andfeelings about the methodsused, nearly all with

opportunity for further/explanatory comment. Itrevealed a number of interesting results.

The first salient point was that students liked thenew module – the question on enjoymentshowed a rating of 4.11/5 average, with thelowest being 3/5. 78% reported that they felt thetutorial-based structure improved their enjoyment.

Perhaps more important (at least pedagogically-speaking) was the fact that they also reportedlearning both more broadly and deeply with thisstructure. Two in three students felt their learningwas both broader and deeper, and no studentsfelt this structure lessened the depth or breadthof learning relative to the more traditionalprevious structure.

Three quarters of students felt this structure was“better” or “much better” than a more traditionalstructure. Very interestingly, 80% said they wouldactively prefer this structure if offered the choice,with only one student reporting that they wouldprefer another structure. >>>>>

The tutorials achieved100% attendance, andthe main questionnairesachieved a 100% returnrate despite theirlength and complexity.

The AuthorAndy Dawson, Director ofStudies, DepartmentalTutor and MSc ProgrammeDirector, University CollegeLondon Department ofInformation Studies.

Andy can be contacted at<[email protected]>


>>>>> The peer review process was generallyconsidered to be fair and accurate, although 15%had reservations of some kind – thoughsurprisingly not the kind we might have expected!Most students thought their grades, both givenand received, were accurate reflections ofperformance. However, 15% were concerned thatthe grades they gave were not always accurate, ondeeper reflection: those so indicating noting atendency to be overgenerous (which in myobservation was probably true, but not to theextent that moderation was necessary). It is veryinteresting (and reassuring) that this was the onlystatistically significant concern voiced.

However, comments did also indicate one furtherconsideration. Initially, as reported above, thestudents themselves voted for review to be face-to-face and attributed. With hindsight it was clearthat the majority view had changed and nowthought that anonymous feedback would havebeen better. This was in part linked to the abovecomments about overgenerosity – studentsunsurprisingly bonded with their fellows as thesessions progressed, and thus became morehesitant to mark them down rather than up, asthey did not want to be perceived as overly critical.Another point made was that anonymous (andtherefore by necessity written) criticism might bemore specific and detailed than the brief synopticstatements that were made when allocating marksverbally at the end of sessions.

Generally speaking it was clear that the peerreview aspects had had a very positive impact.Parts of the questionnaire asked for the student'sfeelings about peer review both before and afterthe experience. It was considerably better thoughtof after the experiment than before (the initialaverage being a pretty neutral 3.11/5 but the post-course average being a much more positive4.06/5).

Other interesting indications were that somestudents preferred (or found it easier to preparefor) task-oriented and specific topic sessions.Presumably as they are more directive. In terms ofpreparatory materials, electronic sources were themost generally popular (most likely as a result ofbeing readily available) and, perhaps surprisingly,video lecture materials were the least popular(rated neutrally). As there is currently a lot ofinterest in ‘lecture flipping’ this was a particularlyinteresting finding, although there may be manyparticular parameters affecting this result.

The data is still being analysed further and moredetailed findings will be published in due course,incorporating further information from a relatedexperiment sparked within the department by thisone, which will hopefully clarify some questionsand provide further comparative data from anotherprogramme. In the interim please feel free tocontact me for more information at<[email protected]>.

Appendix 1 – agreed peer review criteria

Key criteria for peer group assessment in INSTG053(based on prioritised lists provided by group exercise on 4 October 2013)

1. Clarity and Coherence – of argument, message and expression

2. Evidence – explaining reasoning, giving examples, citing sources

3. Originality – formulating own opinion, applying critical thinking

4. Engagement – willingness to contribute, responding to others’ ideas, interesting

5. Professional - courteous, giving space, time and respect to others’ views, supportive

6. Analytic – open-minded, constructive, develops ideas, formulates conclusions

7. Questioning – ready to ask questions, willingness to argue constructively

8. Focus – stays on topic, concise, doesn’t digress, not longwinded

9. Structure – appropriate breadth and depth, signposting, perceivable logic

10. Objective – doesn’t make things personal, impartial, fair in judgment of others


Taxonomydesignbestpractices

ver my years of taxonomyconsulting I’ve often beenasked to codify the bestpractices regarding taxonomydesign. A simple search onlineshows that this is a common

question, though one where a lot of the currentanswers appear outdated. Taxonomy design, aswell as the information systems that leveragetaxonomies and the business needs that drivethem have evolved in recent years.

Taxonomy management tools and auto-categorisation systems are more mature and easierto use. Many content and document managementsystems (and really, the broader set of informationmanagement products as well) have grown intosuites of products through a multitude ofacquisitions by industry leaders, while open-sourceupstarts have introduced some much neededvolatility and new functionality into the market.Most importantly, businesses themselves are muchsavvier regarding the value of their >>>>>

Zach Wahl

O


Systems with abroad base ofcontent publishersmust sacrifice somelevel of taxonomy.

>>>>> information, the need to use andreuse it, and the reality that everyone is not justan information consumer, but a potentialinformation creator as well.

As a result of these dynamics, many of thetaxonomy best practices from a decade ago haveshifted or changed. Others are as critical as ever.The below represents the core set of today’sbusiness taxonomy design best practices.

Define and document your purpose –Taxonomies, despite a lot of improvedunderstanding over the last decade, can still besomewhat esoteric to the non-indoctrinated. Assuch, I too often see a stakeholder group which isconfused about the need for taxonomy and thevalue the taxonomy will provide. Every taxonomydesign effort should begin with a clearlydocumented and shared understanding of theWho, What, and Why of taxonomy. Who is ouraudience? What are we ‘taxonoming’ or tagging?Why are we doing it? (ie what’s the businessvalue that will be derived?)

Focus on the business user – I often tell myclients that this is the only best practice which isnon-negotiable. Every design decision shouldcome down to that which would best serve theend-user. This is also why the development ofpersonas is so important. An early stage in anytaxonomy design effort should be theidentification of your audience/users and a clearunderstanding of your ‘lowest commondenominator’ user. If you can design for thatperson, you will best serve the interests andneeds of all your end-users, be they customers,the public, your own employees, or a mix.

Understand your publishing process –Depending on the type of system, type oforganisation and purpose for the system, thecontent creation and publishing workflows canvary wildly. Some systems have contentpublished only by a few, full-time contentstrategists. Others have a fully democratisedcontent management approach, where any userof the system also has the ability to publish intoit. The number of tags you can expect to haveconsistently and correctly applied to your content


is heavily dependent on who will be applyingthose tags. Systems with a broad base of contentpublishers must sacrifice some level of taxonomyand tagging granularity for overall usability. I willalways take a smaller and simpler set of tags thatare consistently applied over deep and detailedtaxonomy is used sporadically. The use ofautocategorisation tools also comes into play here.A system leveraging autocategorisation (ifdesigned and implemented properly) will decreasetagging time and increase consistency, allowing fora more granular taxonomy design.

Use the simplest language possible – One ofthe best taxonomy consulting services I canprovide an organisation is sometimes to serve asthe outsider who doesn’t recognise their internaljargon and acronyms. Internal taxonomy designerstoo often get overly comfortable with their ownterms and concepts. I always encourageorganisations to ‘burn down’ their language intothe most simple and cleanest terms possible. It isthis language that will most make sense to a first-time visitor to a site, an employee on their firstday, a beginner, or any other lowest commondenominator. As an added value, this cleanlanguage is also the easiest to translate forinternationalised taxonomies and the easiest tomaintain in order to minimise long-term costs andadministrative burdens.

Deconstruct your taxonomy –One of the keys to today’staxonomy design efforts andone of the major changes fromthe past, is that the conceptsof faceting, along withadvances in taxonomymanagement and informationmanagement technologieshave given us the ability to step away from the‘one taxonomy to rule them all’ model. Asopposed to a terribly deep and detailed taxonomywith a mix of different terms, today we strive forclean and simple taxonomies, each of which maypower a separate metadata field in a one-taxonomy-for-one-metadata-field-type of model.This easily enables the concepts of facetednavigation and search now available out-of-the-boxin most information management systems. It also

improves the accuracy of auto-categorisation toolsand creates the potential for much easiertaxonomy and content governance by ensuringmandatory fields are completed correctly.Moreover, a deconstructed taxonomy design yieldssimpler and flatter taxonomies which are mucheasier for the average business user to leverageand understand.

Leverage the wealth of information that alreadyexists – Thanks to today’s analytics tools, mostorganisations have a pretty good understanding ofuser behaviour. Understanding what words peopleare searching for, what information they areaccessing the most and how they are navigating asite are all extremely valuable tools to taxonomydesign. For instance, recognising a particular termhas been searched upon more than any other canbe an important key to recognising that the termshould be included in a core taxonomy design.Equally, knowing what part of your content is mostsought-after plays a critical role. I often work withorganisations to help them understand this andthen focus on a first implementable versiontaxonomy design which primarily serves that ‘MVP’content.

Plan for the long-term – We all know that notaxonomy is ever finished. An organisation’s needs

and strategies change, as do theirmission, services, products andemployees. As a result, content isconstantly in flux and a taxonomydesign must be adaptive in orderto address these changes.Moreover, on an averagetaxonomy design effort, the worldof potential users will not be ableto respond to it until after it isdeployed. We leverage interviews,

workshops, analytics, and an array of user testingand validation techniques to hear from as manypotential stakeholders and users during the designprocess as possible. That said, in most cases therewill be many more people in a potential user setthat don’t see the taxonomy until after is has beendeployed. Every organisation needs to have theresources in place to capture and respond to boththe active and passive feedback that will comeafter rollout. >>>>>

Thanks to today’sanalytics tools, mostorganisations have apretty goodunderstanding ofuser behaviour.


>>>>> Leverage governance – Though taxonomygovernance many not be the most exciting topic, itis by far one of the most critical to long-termsuccess. Taxonomy governance will ensure adesign evolves to better reflect the needs of thebusiness and users, but does so in a sustainablemanner that doesn’t ‘break’ the original design andfunctionality.

Look to usability best practices – The conceptsof taxonomy design and usability are rather similar.When designing taxonomy, I always encourage myclients to consider usability as well. As more andmore taxonomies are ‘front-facing’, leverageddirectly for navigation and findability, this becomeseven more important. Even ‘back-end’ taxonomiesneed to be usable for the taggers. Traditional viewsof navigation and ‘clicks to content’ hold true fortaxonomy design. The days of six-level-deep

business taxonomies are long gone, orat least should be.

The above are thetaxonomy design bestpractices that matter mostin today’s world. The coretheme running throughthem is the focus on thebusiness and the user,hence my use of the termbusiness taxonomy. Focuson practical business valuefor the business andbusiness users and yourtaxonomy design effort willbe off to the right start.

The AuthorZach Wahl is the founderand principal of EnterpriseKnowledge, LLC. Zach hasnearly 20 years ofexperience leadingprogrammes in theknowledge and informationmanagement space.

Zach can be contacted at<[email protected]>

This article was first published at<www.enterprise-knowledge.com/taxonomy-design-best-practices>

Focus on practical business value forthe business and business users andyour taxonomy design effort will beoff to the right start.

35

Dave Stafford

Hidden data silos andthe information glut: howto combat them

n the modern IT environment, where wehave multiple file servers in multiplelocations and where we have manystaff dispersed across variousfacilities as well as working flexiblyor remotely, it has unfortunately

become commonplace for hidden cachesof information to appear, hidden data silosthat can grow to large sizes and remainundetected if you are not extremelyvigilant. A combination of physical factorsand human behaviour is contributing toa serious glut of information and thisarticle aims to help you combat thisever-growing problem.

Data silos might include, but notnecessarily be limited to, privatedrives, memory sticks, externalhard drives, local C: drives, e-mail archives and manyothers, while staffbehaviour creates stillmore secret caches of datathat are just as difficult todetect, or in some cases,even more difficult todetect and deal with, as aresult of deliberatedeception, secretivebehaviour, “hero”behaviour, staff whonever delete files,the presence ofpersonalinformation>>>>>

I

INFORMATION AND RECORDS MANAGEMENT SOCIETY


>>>>> rather than business information, lack ofvisibility and a number of other negative behaviour.

Whether we have established retention schedules(good) or not (bad); whether we have goodquality folder and file naming (good) or not (bad);whether we purge our data regularly (good) or not(bad); or whether we treat our electronic folders asif they are paper filing cabinets (good) ornot (bad) – this type ofbehaviour along with

other types, have an impact on how many datasilos and secret information caches you havelurking within (and possibly without) your fileservers.

The first part of this paper deals with describing, inmore detail, all of the issues raised in the threeparagraphs above and detailing some proposed

solutions for combattingthem – both for

A combination ofphysical factors andhuman behaviour iscontributing to aserious glut ofinformation.

37INFORMATION AND RECORDS MANAGEMENT SOCIETY

combatting the physical/real-world problems ofphysical data silos, but also, for combattingdetrimental staff behaviour that encourages a silomentality. We’ll begin with the hardware issues,since they are the easiest to deal with.

Know your enemiesPrivate drivesPrivate drives are one of the worst scenarios for acompany, the concept is, providing a smallamount of dedicated network server space toeach employee, with the avowed purpose ofkeeping a very small quantity of sensitive, orprivate documents there, such as: time cards,personal documents such as items relating tobereavement, disciplinary actions, criminal actions,etc. – items that by their very nature, cannot beleft in a public folder structure.

While this is very thoughtful of the Council, toprovide this space, at the same time, this kindidea has pretty muchbackfired, and, because ITnever put any kind of cap onthe size of a private drive,and, the Council nevercreated policy or rules forwhat should be stored inprivate drives, they quicklybecame a free-for-all area.Staff found incredibly creativeways to populate these private drives, storinganything and everything from large caches ofpersonal files to their entire work load organisedinto topics and everything in between.

People began to download media from theInternet, storing music, movies, images, and otherpersonal items in their private drives, spendingCouncil time and eating up Council disk resourcesin doing so; in some extreme cases, staff hadliterally filled their private drive folders tooverflowing with hundreds of holiday snaps,pictures of themselves, pictures of their houses,families, cars, dogs, babies – you name it, it wasfound there. Sometimes, personal files detected inroutine IT scans amounted to several gigabytes ofpersonal information – none of which should everbe stored on a Council server!

At the same time, another section of staff wereusing the private drive as a work backup, or worsestill, as a place to keep all of their work - whichagain, creates a data silo, because no one canaccess the private drive except for the owner andtheir manager, colleagues cannot access importantCouncil information when customers call for it(and the owner is out on leave or out ill). That isone of the worst ramifications of keeping normalwork in the private drive – accessibility of Councilinformation – we never want to be in the positionto say to a customer, “I’m so sorry, I can’t give youthat information, because the person who dealswith that, is out on leave, and the information ison their private drive, which I cannot access” –that’s just beyond embarrassing – yet, thishappens all the time. Important Councilinformation locked away on a private drive whilethe owner is sunning themselves on holiday inSpain, a customer is calling the Council, looking forthat specific information – and this is the onlycopy – and it’s totally inaccessible. The customer is

turned away.

Given the nature of what shouldbe kept in a private drive, Iwould expect that a size for sucha folder would be under 100MB. However, in the case of staffwho either have extreme countsof personal files (that should notbe on Council servers in the first

place) or in the case of staff who keep some or allof their work in their private drive, some of thesedrives are enormous – measured in gigabytes notmegabytes. In one case where a staff memberwas keeping all of their work on their private drive,the folder contained over 13 GB of information,which was something like 7% of the entire serverit was present on!

An additional factor in a percentage of the privatedrives is the presence of e-mail archive folders, if,for example, you use Novell GroupWise, this willbe named “Gwarch” or similar - the “GroupWiseArchive” – please see the topic e-mail archives fora full explanation. These e-mail archives addsubstantially to private drive sizes, and since thefiles are completely inaccessible to anyone exceptthe owner, they are one of the worst >>>>>

In some extreme cases,staff had literally filledtheir private drivefolders to overflowingwith hundreds ofholiday snaps.


>>>>> kinds of data silos within a data silo –the oversized e-mail archive within the oversizedprivate drive – not a good combination. Thisdoesn’t have to be GroupWise, it could apply toMicrosoft Outlook or any e-mail system thatprovides archive capability. The point is e-mailarchives eat up huge amounts of space, and theybecome dumping grounds for both an excessivenumber of e-mails as well as large numbers ofattachments – data.

In summary, private drives are well-intentioned, butthey have backfired horribly, and have become amassive Freedom of Information (FOI) liability atthe same time, for example, if an FOI requestcomes through asking how many MP3 files thereare, or how many full length films in HD there are,on Council servers – we must answer by law. I’veseen the MP3 request come through, and we hadto count the MP3s and answer thequestion. If those files are present –then we have embarrassment,loss of reputation and otherdamage control to deal with.The newspapers have a fieldday demonstrating howmany MP3s we have storedon our servers.

Solution: find a way to put anabsolute cap size on the folder,

with an automated system that warns the staffmember the instant they go over their quota, andcontinues to remind them, say, every two hours,until they go into their private drive and removefiles until their drive is back within limits. This typeof warning has been successfully used at theDepartment for Work and Pensions and at otherinstitutions, the idea is sound; however, it stillmeans you need resources, to create and maintainthe alarms, and to monitor cases where folkdisregard the alarms and overfill their private driveanyway (and there always seem to be one or twostaff members who seem to have absolutely norespect for Council rules or policy, and continue toabuse the private drive without remorse anddespite repeated warnings).

So limiting the size of P: drive folder to 100 MB orless, would be the best solution possible – if that

could be an actual, physical limit, that wouldbe great, barring that, a warning when that

level is reached, sent by e-mail, to eachstaff member, which will continue to

39

warn them until they bring the drive back downunder 100 MB – is a viable solution for thisproblem. Please also see the related topic e-mailarchives below.

Memory sticksMemory sticks – everybody wants one, mainlybecause they are “so cool” – not because theyhave an actual use for them; much less, a validbusiness case for why they actually need them. Ina modern technology-basedcompany, our IT resourcesshould be such that weactually have no need for anyportable drives of any kind, bethey memory stick, externaldrive, or other portabledevices – and that should beaccomplished by havingavailable, smart and safeexternal access to the main network – whichmeans, you no longer need portable drives,because you can always, always get to the realdata, even when you are out of the office.

A memory stick is a data silo,again, folk store files on

memory sticks, which then,because they are nolonger on the main

Council network, do not get backed up, ever(unless the person manually backs the content ofthe memory stick up to a folder) this is not ideal –we want every Council file we work on to getbacked up regularly, for security’s sake – andmemory sticks do not get backed up.

In trying to think of one single positive reason whyyou might want a memory stick, the only thing Ican even come up with is that nowadays most

memory sticks are encrypted,which does lessen, but noteliminate some of the issuesraised here – it’s important toremember that even the bestencryption can eventually bebroken, given time, materialsand determination – soencryption does not necessarilyguarantee the safety of your

sensitive Council data stored on your flashymemory stick.

Some reasons why using memory sticks is not aparticularly good idea:

1. Limited capacity – compared to your Councilnetwork, you cannot keep much data on amemory stick – they are quite small in capacity(comparatively). >>>>>

Since the files arecompletely inaccessibleto anyone except theowner, they are one ofthe worst kinds of datasilos within a data silo.


>>>>>2. Ease of loss – they are very small, and they

are often lost. Being that small, they are quitedifficult to keep track of, and the risk of losinga memory stick is disproportionally high – loseit in a café, lose it on a train – withdevastating results. You will then become aheadline in the Sun, “Council worker leftmemory stick on train, containing 20,000citizens’ addresses, phone numbers, and otherpersonal details” – infamous rather thanfamous. So this is a huge risk factor withmemory sticks – the risk of loss followed byadverse, reputation-damaging publicity –publicity of the most negative sort.

3. Data silo – the information on the stick may notbe replicated or backed up anywhere, makingthat data vulnerable to loss, which then meansit would have to be recreated from scratch. Thiscosts us time and money and effort.

4. Too convenient – it’s too easy, to just stick allyour most important files on a memory stick,and then rely on it solely as you work throughthe day. However, in the end, using thenetwork, which in future will be available viathin client, is the far more sensible, safer route,because of the increased security; there is norisk of loss; the network has large capacityinstead of very, very small; and on the network,files get backed up regularly.

5. Status symbol – I’ve seen people’s behaviourwith their memory sticks, they are inordinatelyproud of them, look, “mine is coloured red” or“I’ve got the 32-GB model” and so on. Otherstaff see and hear this behaviour and want inon the game, so even though they haveabsolutely no business need for a memorystick, they ask their supervisor to order them

one anyway (and eventually, the whole teamwants one – so why not order one foreverybody?) – so they can be cool like theirmemory-stick toting colleagues. Believe me,having a memory stick does not make youcool, in fact, it makes you very, very vulnerableto one of the worst risks of all, losing thememory stick in a public place or on publictransport, and you yourself then ending uplosing your job and finding yourself on the frontpage of a newspaper as the person who gaveaway 20,000 names, addresses and otherpersonal information –all because of one lost£8 memory stick.

So if you must absolutely have a memory stick todo your work (which in my opinion, is highlydebatable), please do the following to minimiseyour risk:

1. Lock up the memory stick(s) every night inyour locker, and do not leave the key lyingabout – take it home with you. Alternatively,take the memory stick(s) home with you everynight and keep them locked up in a safe place.

2. Don’t leave the memory stick lying about, onyour desk, or set it down for a second – it maydisappear, it may get lost or stolen, it maybecome a temptation sitting unattended onyour desk.

3. Make sure you have an official, Council-sanctioned, fully encrypted memory stick – ifyou have an ordinary, unencrypted memorystick, please return it in immediately to IT, andorder an encrypted model.

External hard drivesExternal hard drives are another very risky item,although as with memory sticks, a fully encryptedexternal drive is less of a risk – not forgettingthough, of course, that any encryption can bebroken with time and effort. External hard drivesare much, much larger in capacity than memorysticks, so are in fact, a much, much greater riskthan a memory stick, based solely on the possibleamount of sensitive or personal data that mightbe lost.

External hard drives aremuch, much larger in capacitythan memory sticks, so are infact, a much, much greaterrisk than a memory stick.


A 32-GBmemory stickcan only hold somany files, and iflost, would be adisaster, but the averageexternal hard drive is aminimum of 500 GB thesedays, and losing 500 GB (oreven worse, 1 TB or more) ofinformation is in a completelydifferent league of risk and danger –a really, truly bad, and much, muchlarger, risk.

So if you must absolutely have anexternal hard drive to do your work(which in my opinion, is highlydebatable), please do the following tominimise your risk:

1. Lock up the drive(s) every night inyour locker, and do not leave the keylying about – take it home with you.Alternatively, take the external hard drivehome with you every night and keep itlocked up in a safe place.

2. Try not to leave the drive unattended for longperiods of time, it may become a temptationsitting unattended on your desk.

3. Make sure you have an official, Council-sanctioned, fully encrypted external hard drive –if you have an ordinary, unencrypted hard drive,please return it in immediately to IT, and orderan encrypted model.

Local C: drivesAll of the objections, risks and issues associatedwith the private drive, also apply to local C: drives– which can be quite large, and if used by staff tostore files, can become large, untamed >>>>>


>>>>> data silos containing data that is neverbacked up; is inaccessible to managers andcolleagues alike; and should be moved to anetwork drive so that managers and colleaguescan access it, to answer customer enquiries.

Please see the sections on memory sticks andexternal hard drives for a list of the specific risksand issues for this type of drive – the issues arenearly identical for local C: drives.

E-mail archivesE-mail archives are not your friend… again, theyare very difficult to access, only the owner has

easy access, and often, archiving rules are set upthat even the users are unaware of, until they findout that five years ago, someone in IT turned theirarchive function on, and they now have a 10 GBor even larger Gwarch or GroupWise archive filefull of saved messages – that they never wantedor needed to keep!

Beware of using e-mail archives at all, it’s just bestto, as a policy, shut off the archiving function for allstaff as a firm, well-enforced IT policy decision.Because invariably, if you don’t, people develop

massive e-mail archive files, which are a hugeFOI risk, just like the private drive. If you haveexisting e-mail archives, you should develop a

plan to decommission them as soon aspossible, get the user to empty them out,save any attachments as documents, andthen shut off the archiving functionspermanently. The amount of disk spacethese archives begins to use, seriouslyimpacts ITC and the Council as well.

Deliberate deceptions and secretivebehaviourSome staff go to ridiculous lengths tohide files that they don’t want anyone tofind, and in particular, that they want tohide from IT scans – for example, scanslooking for personal files - movies,music, images, etc. This wish to deceivemay be based on the fact that they

consider the item in question to be personaland private, but, any file with those qualities,should not be stored on a Council server in thefirst place.

Sometimes, there are more sinister/illegal motivesbehind the deliberate misdirection, as in caseswhere staff have files that they should not have ona Council server, but have renamed them with aninnocuous name that seems to be a business file,but if opened, reveals a file that should absolutelynot be found on Council or any business server.

I also in particular, look for files with no extension,over the years, I’ve learned, that often, staff willdeliberately remove the extension of certain filesto hide their true nature, and 9 times out of 10, ifyou just type “.jpg” onto the end of these


extension-less files, you will discover that they arejpg images – cleverly hidden by the simple trick ofremoving the extension.

Some staff hide many, many images this way, afterbeing disciplined for keeping personal files onCouncil servers – they then continue to defy therules and policies of the Council, and continue tokeep many personal images or movies or musicfiles, simply adding on the appropriate extensionwhen they want to use the files!

Remarkable behaviour, and, far more commonthan you might imagine – and almost certainlydeveloped by staff to elude,frustrate and hide inappropriateor offensive files from routinescans made by IT. Since I amthe person who runs the scans,I am also the person who findsthese hidden files – since theideal situation for me would bethat my years of experiencewould mean that I can defeatsuch subterfuge easily, by recognising andchallenging certain behavioural patterns that stafftend to exhibit – and, extension-less files are acommon subterfuge that staff rely on to elude,evade, avoid and hide files from IT. Yes, it is a bitshocking, but it’s extremely common, and in everylarge organisation, there are always staff withextension-less files, which are deliberately hiddenpersonal files – deliberate avoidance of IT scans.

No more heroesIn the old days, people often played the hero, thisis a type of behaviour that is well-intentioned, butis actually a bad, bad idea – the concept isrelatively simple; this type of employee is usuallysomeone who has been with the organisation fora long, long time; and they have a personalstorehouse of information that has not been keptup to date, and is therefore, in the main, obsolete– but the staff member thinks these files are very,very valuable, and clings to them as if they areincredibly rare and precious.

It might be a complete collection of engineeringmanuals, or similar technical information – but theproblem is, if an item that this staff member

collected was downloaded five years ago, it mighthave been revised seven times since then, andmay contain conflicting information and the five-year-old data is potentially very dangerous,because if an engineer followed the five-year-oldinstructions, instead of going to the manufacturerof the item to get the latest, most up to dateinstructions then serious, or worse still, dangerous,issues can arise.

The idea with this type of person is, they guardthis information jealously, and when there is aproblem, they step from out of the shadows andannounce in a loud voice that they are a hero,

because they have saved themanual for the furnace – andwill then attempt to get you touse his information that is 5 or10 years out of date, to workon seriously dangerousproducts.

We do not need heroes, whatwe need is current information.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with keeping alibrary, a library of standards for instance, or ofmanuals for products, but, you need to ensure thefollowing if you do:

1. Each item is identified in terms of version, date,and last date updated, and if possible, markedas current or obsolete so it’s clear what thestatus is, exactly.

2. That any documents used by anyone at theCouncil, are indeed the most up to date,current version possible, we need to safeguardagainst the risk of using obsolete information toperform dangerous engineering tasks involvinggas appliances, electricity, and so on. We alsoneed to very much avoid doing quotationsinvolving money, based on obsoleteinformation – the true reason for overspend.

3. Such a library should be updated constantly, toensure that only the latest information ispresent, and, if it is not, that the existinginformation is clearly marked as obsolete andthat it not be used for the performance ofengineering works. >>>>>

There is absolutelynothing wrong withkeeping a library, alibrary of standardsfor instance, or ofmanuals for products.


>>>>> So this behaviour is not a positive one,even though it is well-motivated, it “means well” –but as I mentioned, we need accurate, currentdata – not a bunch of old, old files stuck on adrive somewhere, but never brought up to date.

Current, valid, business information onlyThis follows on from the previous topicnicely: the very best way to determinewhether a file is “fluff”, orwhether it is a valid file, isto make a determinationas to if the file is current,valid, businessinformation, that willhelp inform goodjudgement and gooddecisions, and it isimperative that the use ofsuch a file will cause good rather than harm.

Redundant, obsolete and trivial (ROT)information can be very, very risky anddangerous to use, so I’ve developed a testquestion that I use to determine whethera file is useful or not.

The test question – use itIs this file, a current, valid, business file as of[current date] [current time]?• If the answer is no, then the file is probably

trivial, or obsolete – and should very probablybe deleted.

• If the answer is yes, then the file is probablyhigh-quality business information, and shouldbe taken care of appropriately, retentionshould be determined for it, and it should befiled into a file plan/folder hierarchy under thecorrect topic, so all staff can benefit from its use.

Out of sight, out of mindOne of the worst problems that we have withelectronic data silos and overflowing folders is, thatunlike a paper file cabinet, which, when itbecomes overstuffed, you can see it. You knowyou will have to stop what you are doing, andclear out all of the oldest paper, and then makeroom for your new files. While, electronic datadoesn’t look overly large – but it is, and in a lot ofcases, if it were translated into paper – it would beoverflowing far, far worse than the worstoverstuffed file cabinet you’ve ever imagined.

It’s too easy to just save filesin a folder, lots of files,hundreds of files, withoutthinking, without realising,that you are creating an‘overstuffed’ folder.


“It’s just some files in a folder”, OK, maybe it lookslike a lot of files in a folder, but for some reason, itjust doesn’t seem as big to us, so what it boilsdown to is the old adage, come true in anincredible way: out of sight, out of mind.

We see the paper mess, we see the paper stickingout of the drawers, we see that we cannotpossibly stuff even one more sheet of paper intothat overstuffed drawer, but with electronic files,they get filed away into folders, inside of otherfolders, inside of other folders, and very quicklyindeed, we forget about them… out of sight, outof mind.

So, reminders that electronic files are real, thatthey have substance, that they are just as difficult(or more difficult) to deal with as paper; they carry

just as many risks and problems with themthat overstuffed paper file cabinets carry –they are very similar. It’s too easy to justsave files in a folder, lots of files, hundredsof files, without thinking, without realising,that you are creating an ‘overstuffed’

folder that is actually worse than any tenoverstuffed filing cabinets, because huge

amounts of files can be stored away,without you realising just how many youhave, and just how much disk space

they are taking up.

Gentle reminders, sent out every couple ofmonths, to have a clear out of your folders, are astarting point for dealing with this behaviour,otherwise, you just need to learn to set a point intime for clearing out your electronic files, just likeyou would make some time to clear a jammed upfile cabinet.

A novice’s guide to learning how to delete filesOK, this is approaching the facetious, but for somereason, most of us are really, really bad at deletingfiles. We are very happy to create them, we love tosit and type, and then save our work, no matterhow trivial, endlessly dumping important files intoyour network or local folders – until suddenly,someone like myself pops around or rings you upand says, “by the way, just a friendly reminder –your X drive folder has about 7 GB worth of files

in it, you have something like 23,421 files storedthere, taking up 7 GB of disk space– can youplease, possibly delete or zip some of these filesto conserve disk space?”

Before the data police arrive (that’s me, by theway!) a way to address this issue, is to again,send out periodic reminders to people, andremind them that we are not in the creationbusiness, we don’t want to just create endlessdocuments, and then not delete them, ever.Instead, we want to create useful information,information that helps us deliver services or takecare of internal customers and we want to retainthat kind of high-quality information and deleteanything that is not… you guessed it – a current,valid, business file as of today’s date and time.

Encourage your staff to develop the habit of everyafternoon, or every Friday, locating ROT files ontheir machines or on their network folders, andthen deleting any ROT files that they identify, toreduce the count of files and the disk space usedby these fluff files, files containing nothing ofvalue, files that contribute nothing to the business.

While the above items are nominally items thatare your enemies, things to avoid, issues to bevery careful with, there is some overlap with theissues outlined in part two of this paper; since infact, all of these issues have some kind ofbehavioural component, which is stronger insome than in others. So while I’ve identified risksand problems with the items above, part of thesolution in each case is behavioural change-based.

Part two of this paper willoutline problems which, Ifeel, have a larger thannormal behaviour changebasis, so I have giventhem their own specialbehavioural categories,good and bad behaviour-based.

Part two of this paper will appearin the November 2014 edition ofthe Bulletin.

The AuthorDave Stafford, Data &Technical Standards Officer,Stirling Council.

Dave can be contacted at<[email protected]>


IRMS Public Sector Groupmeeting, July 2014

was unable to find a willing (or indeedunwilling) volunteer to write the PublicSector Group’s contribution to theBulletin this time, so here are a fewthoughts from the Chair.

The Public Sector Group met on 17 July at theWestminster Archives Centre. Over the course of2014 we have been looking at the recordsmanagement challenges presented in the 21stcentury and we werefocussing on the role of therecords manager as a riskmanager at this meeting. Wehad a good attendancealthough there were otherevents going on during theday. We have been assuredthat the ARA meeting will notbe held at the same time asthe PSG in November as I know that some of ourdelegates would have liked the opportunity toattend both. Some of the more hardy of ourdelegates moved on to the IRMS London meetingin the evening.

Emily Overton, Groups Director, opened theproceedings with an update from the Executive. Itis always interesting to hear what the Executive

has planned for the Society for the present andinto the future. It is always a pleasure to welcomemembers of the Executive to the Groups and I amsure that I speak on behalf of all the Group Chairswhen I say that we appreciate the time and energywhich our Groups Director spends on theindividual Groups.

Although the theme may have seemed a littlesimilar to conference we looked at the theme in

the PSG’s own individual way.Dr Paul Duller was to havebeen our keynote speaker, buthe was called away to assistclients who were managingrecords management risk forrecords stored in a war zone.On the face of it this makesour risks seem very mundaneindeed. We welcomed Alison

North who stepped into Paul’s shoes at very shortnotice and she started the discussion and thedebate about the role of records management inthe risk management environment. She used thegas pipeline example to illustrate her points. Asalways, Alison stimulated a lot of discussion. Theupshot was that the records manager needs to bein the right place in the organisation to be able toinfluence whether records are kept or destroyed.

IAlthough storage mediaand methods of deliverymay have changed thecore principles andrequirements of recordsmanagement have not.

Elizabeth Barber


This was followed by a presentation from KeithBatchelor looking at whether recordsmanagement has really changed. The conclusionwas that although storage media and methods ofdelivery may have changed the core principles andrequirements of records management have not.

The meeting was sponsored by TNT BusinessSolutions. Andy Satchwell and Sarah Sheltongave a well-researched and entertainingpresentation looking first at the different risksfaced in the records management environmentand then moving onto the benefits of movingphysical records to a digital format. Following onfrom conference there were questions with prizes.Unlike at conference, the prizes were handed overwith dignity rather than being tossed around theroom, which was probably a good job. TNTBusiness Solutions also provided “goodie bags” forthe delegates to take away with them and whendelegates left the meeting Queen Anne Streetturned into a sea of orange bags and which a lotof the tourists were eying enviously.

As the speaker for the afternoon had had to pullout for family reasons, I decided to turn theafternoon in an interactive session. The idea wasto look at core elements of a recordsmanagement programme againstelements of strategic risk (Political,Economic, Competitive andEnvironmental) and elements ofoperational risk (Financial,Technological, Contractual and HumanResources). The individual groupswere then invited to look at howthe elements of the recordsmanagement programmewould help the organisation

mitigate the risk. Before any risk analysis started,however, there was a long discussion about whatconstituted the elements of a core recordsmanagement programme and what were, in fact,outputs. This is a discussion that we may well pickup at a future meeting. All the outputs from theindividual groups can be found on the PSG pageson the IRMS Web site.

The next meeting will take place on 13November at the Westminster Archives Centreand we will be on the theme of DigitalContinuity.

The AuthorElizabeth Barber isleader of IRMS PublicSector Group

Elizabeth can be contacted at<[email protected]>


Inaugural essayprize – Centre forArchive andInformationStudies, Universityof Dundee

The Centre for Archive andInformation Studies (CAIS) atthe University of Dundeecelebrates its 10th anniversarythis year.In that time it has grown tobecome one of the leadinginternational providers ofprofessional education andtraining in records and archivalmanagement by online distancelearning. As part of the 10th anniversarycelebrations CAIS hasestablished an annual essayprize that recognises anoutstanding piece of studentwork submitted for assessmentin one of CAIS’ 35 individualmodules.

CAIS is delighted to announcethat winner of the inauguralessay prize is Zsuszanna TozserMilam for an essay shecompleted while taking themodule ‘The Management andPreservation of Digital Records’.

Alan Bell, CAIS ProgrammeLeader for the RecordsManagement pathways, said thatZsuszanna’s essay, whichconsidered issues of authenticityin digital records, ‘was anexcellent piece of work.Thoughtful, analytical and well-written, it made effective use ofthe literature to reach a logicaland considered conclusion'.

Zsuszanna is enrolled on theCAIS Records Managementand Digital Preservationprogramme and is currentlyundertaking research for herMasters dissertation.Unsurprisingly, the focus of herresearch is reliable and usefulrecords in digital environments.On hearing of her successZsuszanna said ‘I am veryhonoured and delighted tohave been awarded the prizefor the best student essay. As aforeign student whose mothertongue is not English, I neverexpected to achieve such

recognition. I would like to thankCAIS for their mentoring andsupport and for havingnominated me’.

For more information on theonline Masters programmes andsingle-module study for CPDoffered by CAIS please see<www.dundee.ac.uk/cais> or e-mail<[email protected]>.CAIS would like to offer IRMSmembers a 10th anniversarydiscount of 10% off their firstmodule (valid until January2015).


Prison service warned afterMaze records sold at auction

The prison service in Northern Ireland hasbeen warned by the InformationCommissioner after a filing cabinetcontaining Maze Prison records wasunwittingly sold at auction.

The incident occurred in 2004, when a cabinetthat officials thought was empty was sold at apublic auction. It in fact contained files aboutthe closure of the prison, including the detailsof staff and a high-profile prisoner. TheNorthern Ireland Office, which was responsiblefor prisons at that time, retrieved theinformation but failed to report the matter tothe Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The ICO became aware of the breach when asimilar incident occurred in 2012. By this timethe Department of Justice Northern Irelandhad taken responsibility for prisons acrossNorthern Ireland.

The second incident – which also involved theloss of sensitive information left in an oldcabinet sold at auction – resulted in theDepartment of Justice receiving a penalty of£185,000. The ICO was unable to issue apenalty for the 2004 breach as the incident

occurred before the ICO had the power toissue monetary penalties.

ICO Assistant Commissioner for NorthernIreland, Ken Macdonald, said:“This is a story of basic errors and poorprocedures, which if the incident happenedtoday would see us issuing a substantial fine.

“The loss of this information represents notonly an embarrassing episode for the prisonservice in Northern Ireland, but a seriousbreach of the Data Protection Act that couldhave had damaging repercussions for theindividuals affected.

“The incident went unreported for eight yearsand the same mistakes were allowed to occur.It is only now that we have seen acommitment from the Department of JusticeNorthern Ireland to tackle these problems andkeep people’s information secure.”

Under the new agreement, the Department ofJustice Northern Ireland must keep a record toensure condemned equipment containingpersonal data has been emptied or erasedbefore removal. They will also introduceannual refresher and induction training for allstaff whose role involves the routine processingof personal data.


Data retrieval is the invisible drain on IT, study reveals

Frustrated by surge in employee datarequests, IT teams struggle to cope withbig data and information security

Measures designed to protect and managegrowing volumes of information have led to asurge in time-consuming data retrievalrequests that place a further burden on over-stretched IT teams, a new European study bystorage and information managementcompany Iron Mountain has discovered.

Iron Mountain conducted a series of in-depthinterviews with senior IT professionals inFrance, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and theUK. The conversations reveal that ITprofessionals are experiencing year-on-yearincreases of up to 60% in requests for data asemployees look to make the most of customerinsight or access centrally stored data.

Respondents cite the rapid growth in datavolume as the top driver of retrieval requests,as amount of information becomes too greatto store on individual PCs. The second biggestcontributor to rising employee requests fordata is the organisation’s need to restrict

access in order to bolster data protection andsecurity, with many employees not permittedto keep copies of business critical information.This means that employees need to formallyrequest access to centrally stored information,which is then provided on a limited and read-only basis.

Next on the list is the impact of companygrowth, resulting in more employeesgenerating information and requiring access.This is followed by the inevitable impact ofhuman error such as accidental deletion,forgetting to save documents and the loss ortheft of personal mobile devices or sharedinformation.

The data retrieval requests were found to behighest in the manufacturing, services andhealthcare sectors.

A UK legal software firm that employs morethan 10,000 people said it receives a non-stopstream of requests for documents to be usedfor citations and precedents; while ahealthcare firm with more than 250 employeessays that its commitment to patientconfidentiality means that employees are givenread-only access to documents and that itsability to view them expires after a pre-determined time limit.

Foreign Office“hoarding 1mhistoric files insecret archive”

The Foreign Office is storingmore than a million files ofhistoric documents thatshould have beendeclassified and handed overto The National Archives,according to the Guardiannewspaper.

According to the Guardian, thefiles are being kept at a secretarchive at a high-securitygovernment communicationscentre in Buckinghamshire,north of London.

They have been kept frompublic view in breach of thePublic Records Acts, whichrequires that all governmentdocuments become publiconce they are 30 years old – aterm about to be reduced to20 years.

The Foreign Office's secretarchive, which is estimated tohold around 1.2m files andoccupies around 15 miles offloor-to-ceiling shelving, isbelieved to be far larger thanthe combined undisclosedarchives of every othergovernment department.

For the full story visit<www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/oct/18/foreign-office-historic-files-secret-archive>.

51

A manufacturing firm in France with justunder 500 employees says its vast repositoryof product, process, research and developmentdata is in constant use and demand byemployees. Storing all this information in aconfidential database on site has become ahuge challenge.

A hospitality firm in the Netherlands with200 employees finds that information retrievalrequests surge at peak booking times andsuspects this is because employees get so busythat they don’t want to spend any timelooking for a document they can’t instantlylocate.

Retrieval requests can be triggered byaccidental data loss. A Spanish software firmwith just under 50 employees explains thatinformation often gets lost intransfer to and from off-sitedevelopment, sales andsupport teams.

Not all retrieval requestsare internal. A telecommunications firmin Germany with severalthousand employees says itsdata retrieval requests mainlycome from law enforcementagencies looking for user calldetails to support criminalinvestigations.

“Data protection and information value areimportant areas worth taking seriously, but itis important to understand that they will alsoimpact data storage and retrieval processes,”says Christian Toon, Head of Information Riskfor Europe at Iron Mountain. “We believe thattiered information storage is the answer:defining what is most used, most critical andmost confidential, as well as what is essentiallydormant, and then structuring your storage,access and back-up process accordingly. Keephigh-value, highly active documents readilyavailable, but relegate more archival and othertypes of information to more economicalforms of storage. Our conversations reveal thatthis message is starting to get through, withrespondents introducing centrally managedself-service data stores, supported by on-siteand off-site discs, tape and cloud back up.This helps to ensure employees have access tothe data they need, while minimising theimpact on IT resources and reducinginformation risk.”


can deliver efficiencies and organisationaladvantage.

Everyone is urged to look at the toolkit andtake part in the campaign: by planning howthey will communicate in their ownorganisations to coincide, if possible, with theARA letter-writing campaign; and by telling theARA the names of the decision makers in theirorganisations who should receive the letter.

Chair of the Section for RecordsManagement and InformationGovernance David Jenkins says:“We are very hopeful that thecampaign’s key messages and theskills that the campaign helps todevelop will have a positive impact

on all staff working in recordkeepingroles, whether as an archivist,records manager orconservator.”

The Don’t Risk It! Know Your Recordscampaign team is: David Jenkins, BryonyLeventhall, Laura Hynds, Sarah Palmer,Margherita Orlando and Edward Ratcliffe.John Chambers and Marie Owens of the ARAare working with the campaign team.

The ARA is delighted that many sectororganisations are supporting the campaign andis very keen to hear from others who wish tojoin the growing list. The campaign issupported by: IRMS, The National Archives,the National Records of Scotland, the ScottishCouncil on Archives, and the Business ArchivesCouncil.

Find the toolkit on the Don’t Risk It! KnowYour Records Web page at<www.archives.org.uk/campaigns/knowyourrecords.html>.

Contact the Don’t Risk It! Know Your Recordscampaign team at<[email protected]>.

Join in the conversation on Twitter:@KnowYourRecords

Don’t Risk It! Know Your Recordscampaign launched

The Archives and Records Association(ARA) has launched its Don’t Risk It!Know Your Records campaign – andpublished its campaign toolkit – at anadvocacy event in London on 17 July.

Don’t Risk It! Know Your Records isthe ARA’s first ever advocacycampaign for recordsmanagement and has beendeveloped by the ARA’sRecords Management andInformation GovernanceSection, and is supported bythe IRMS.

The campaign has twomain aims:•To help those undertaking records

management to improve their advocacy skillsand have their skills and expertise betterunderstood and utilised

•To make decision makers in organisationsaware that a poor records managementculture carries profound risk and that goodrecords management can deliver significantreturns

The campaign toolkit, now freely available –offers advice, information and good ideas toall who wish to better communicate theimportance of records management and thecontribution made to organisations by skilled,professional records managers. The toolkit alsoexplains how those charged with recordsmanagement duties can use the Don’t Risk It!Know Your Records artwork and messages toget the message across. Artwork downloads areavailable.

In September 2014, letters and leaflets will goout from the ARA to around 1000 leaders anddecision makers in organisations in the UKand Ireland. The leaflet will make clear therisks being run in not managing records well(or at all) and show how good recordkeeping


New interactive onlinemap reveals global reachof the First World War

To mark the centenary of theoutbreak of the First World War, TheNational Archives is launching a newinteractive online map – First WorldWar: A Global View. It will map theglobal reach of the conflict using theofficial records of the First WorldWar from The National Archivescollection.

The map shows countries, territoriesand empires as they were duringwartime alongside a map of the presentday for comparison. This is thebeginning of a 4-year project, whichstarts by focusing on the involvement ofcountries from across the British Empireduring wartime. Each of these countrieshas an interactive tab which containsimages and links to documents drawndirectly from primary sources held byThe National Archives. They highlight

key events, historical figures and somelesser known stories from the war.

Over the course of the four years, themap will be expanded to includeEurope, the Middle East, the Americas,Africa and Asia. When complete it willoffer a truly global view of the FirstWorld War.

Dr Stephen Twigge, Records Specialistat The National Archives said: “Thisnew map reveals the many nations thatjoined forces to go to war. You can nowexplore lesser known stories fromcountries involved alongside famousevents to understand the full impactand global scale of the First World War.”

First World War: A Global View is partof The National Archives’ centenaryprogramme – First World War 100 –which spans a 5-year period from June2014 to June 2019.

<www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/first-world-war/a-global-view/>

Scottish island celebratesnational award as it is namedCommunity Archive of the Year

The Isle of Jura – with a population of about200 – has been named ‘Community Archiveand Heritage Group of the Year’ for its oralhistory project ‘Jura Lives’, which interviewedpeople about their memories of the island'sunique way of life and created a new soundarchive.

The award was celebrated on Jura on 26 Junewith a gathering of many of the Jura residentsinvolved in the project. The trophy was presentedby Chair of Judges for the Community Archivesand Heritage Group Peter Mason. Chair (DavidMander) and Chief Executive (John Chambers)of the Archives and Records Association (UK &Ireland) which supports CAHG, were also present.

‘Jura Lives’, a 2-year oral history project run by theJura Development Trust, aimed to collect andpreserve the remote island’s heritage and enableeasy access to it, using the most modern digitalrecording equipment and computer power. Alongthe way, focus was on strengthening communityconfidence and providing learning opportunitiesbased on a shared heritage.

The island’s tiny community now has a searchable,digital catalogue of audio and metadata for nearly1,000 records from more than 180 sources. Asouvenir CD called 'A Landscape of Lives' of 30selected stories from the catalogue has beenproduced. While the project initially targeted theresidents and visiting community of Jura, othersfrom the wider Jura diaspora were also welcomedand recorded. “From landowners to crofters, fromshopkeepers to artists to groups of school friends,from those who live on the island now to thosewho knew it from the 1930s and all decadessince… their stories are now preserved in their


John Potts, Chair of the Jura DevelopmentTrust (holding the Jura Lives board) andJane Carswell, Project Officer for Jura Lives,with, left, David Mander, Chair of theArchives and Records Association (UK &Ireland) and, right, Peter Mason, whochaired the CAHG award judges

own voices and own words for all time,” says JaneCarswell, who led the project.

Project organisers worked with Jura’s primary schoolto source contributions to the sound archive fromeveryone in the crofting community. Pupils invitedislanders to come to a weekly café in the school(with its own neon sign!) and be interviewed.

Jane Carswell worked with a nine-membervolunteer steering committee. Members includedtwo deer stalkers, an academic, a Council memberwhose family had been on the island forgenerations and a lady who had first lived on Juraas a World War II evacuee. There were also morethan 30 volunteers who transcribed passages fromthe recordings, after learning the necessarytechniques. Jane says this combined effort fromthe community meant that 'their achievementswere way beyond the funders’ expectations andeveryone’s imagination!’

The project was made possible through fundingfrom the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Jura

Development Trust and the Argyll and IslandsLEADER programme. Funding for a second phaseof the project is now being sought, in order toexplore practical applications for the newlycollected material.

The 2014 CAHG judges were deeply impressed bythe way the project had brought together differentgenerations ‘to bond over their shared heritage’and the range of activities undertaken. Theemotional impact of the work of Jura had beenprofound.

“This project definitely has the potential to inspireothers, particularly in small, isolated communities”they said.

A cash prize for the Community Archive andHeritage Group of the Year is given by SticksResearch Agency.

Further information about the Jura Lives project isavailable from Jane Carswell at<[email protected]>.


The Jura community celebrates on 26 June at the Antlers Café, Craighouse, Jura.


Big data ‘not a gameplayed by differentrules’, says regulator

The InformationCommissioner’s Office(ICO) has set out how bigdata can – and must –operate within dataprotection law.

But the report outlines thatoperating within the lawshould not be seen as abarrier to innovation.

Big data is a way of analysingdata that typically usesmassive datasets, bringstogether data from differentsources and can analyse thedata in real time. It often usespersonal data, be that lookingat broad trends in aggregatedsets of data or creatingdetailed profiles in relation toindividuals, for examplelending or insurancedecisions.

The ICO’s report sets outhow the law applies when big

data uses personalinformation. It details whichaspects of the laworganisations need toparticularly consider andhighlights that organisationscan stay the right side of thelaw and still innovate.

Announcing the publicationof the report Steve Wood,the ICO’s Head of PolicyDelivery, said:

“There is a buzz around bigdata and emerging evidence ofits economic and socialbenefits. But we’ve seen a lotof organisations who areraising questions about howthey can innovate to findthese benefits and still complywith the law. Individuals tooare showing they’re concernedabout how their data is beingused and shared in big-datatype scenarios.

“What we’re saying in thisreport is that many of thechallenges of compliance canbe overcome by being openabout what you’re doing.

Organisations need to thinkof innovative ways to tellcustomers what they want todo and what they’re hopingto achieve.

“Not only does that go a longway toward complying withthe law, but there are benefitsfrom being seen as responsiblecustodians of data.”

The report also addressesconcerns raised by somecommentators that currentdata protection law doesn’t fitwith big data.

“Big data can work within theestablished data protectionprinciples. The basic dataprotection principles alreadyestablished in UK and EU laware flexible enough to coverbig data. Applying thoseprinciples involves asking allthe questions that anyoneundertaking big data ought tobe asking. Big data is not agame that is played bydifferent rules.

“The principles are still fit forpurpose, but organisationsneed to innovate whenapplying them”.

Download the report from<http://ico.org.uk/news/latest_news/2014/~/media/documents/library/Data_Protection/Practical_application/big-data-and-data-protection.pdf>.


How to get ready for thejobs of the future

Warwick Business School has teamed up withthe world’s biggest computer services providerIBM and SAS, a world leader in businessintelligence software, to teach students how tomine big data.

The digital age has seen an explosion in data with IBM calculating the world is churning out 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day.

What to do with this tsunami of data, how to mineit and aggregate it is how today’s businesses aregaining an advantage over their rivals. In the USalone, consultants at McKinsey calculatedcompanies were crying out for 1.5 million big-dataanalysts.

It is the next frontier of innovation for businessesand now students studying MSc Business Analyticsat Warwick Business School can learn the latestquantitative consultancy techniques to takeadvantage of this torrent of data.

Working with Warwick Business School’sOperational Research & Management Science(ORMS) group, IBM has helped put togetherAnalytics in Practice, a module that will explore thetechnology needed for big-data analytics by usingtools such as BigSheets (front end for ApacheHadoop), Cognos and SPSS Modeler.

While with SAS, the ORMS group has producedText Analytics where students will learn predictivemodelling techniques using SAS software, modelassessment and implementation, report writing andlearn to use the SAS Text Miner tool andapplications.

Assistant Professor of Operational Research ArneStrauss is delighted to have joined forces with twohuge companies in the IT industry, who are at theforefront of big-data technology.

“Data mining skills are something that more andmore companies are looking for from graduatesand these two modules offer students cutting edgetechnology to learn the latest techniques,” said DrStrauss.

“Warwick Business School has a long and fruitfulrelationship with IBM and we are delighted to haveput together the Analytics in Practice module withthem. It will expose students to real-life analyticalapplications via case studies in IBM’s focus areassuch as smarter cities and improving businessperformance. As well as focusing on current IBMsoftware offerings, the course will analyseemerging trends in the field and look specifically atthe new generation of knowledge and learningsystems that are being built from a foundation ofunstructured data, predictive technology andanalytical capability such as IBM Watson.

“We are equally pleased to be working with SAS inproducing the Text Analytics module. SAS skillshave never been in greater demand in the UK andare heavily used in the financial, retail andgovernment sectors.

“Businesses store massive amounts ofunstructured data in the form of electronic text,social media content, e-mail, service notes,customer reviews and so on. This module willteach students how to sift through this data byusing sophisticated linguistic rules and statisticalmethods to evaluate text, discover topics andpatterns within entire document collections. By theend of the module, students will have learned howto uncover underlying themes or conceptscontained in large document collections,automatically group documents into topicalclusters, classify documents into predefinedcategories and integrate text data with structureddata to enrich predictive modelling endeavours.”


The role of the recordsmanager in an open-government environment in the UK

What is InterPARES Trust?Individuals and organisations are increasinglymaking, storing and accessing records in the highlynetworked, easily hacked environment of theInternet. The issues presented by this scenario areclear: Can the records be trusted? How and whereare they stored? Who has control and jurisdiction?Who has access? How secure are they? Will yourprivacy be protected? Trust in Digital Records in anIncreasingly Networked Society (InterPARES Trust<www.interparestrust.org>) is a multi-national,interdisciplinary research project exploring issuesconcerning digital records entrusted to the Internet.Its goal is to generate the theoretical andmethodological frameworks to develop local,national and international policies, procedures,regulations, standards and legislation, in order toensure public trust grounded on evidence of goodgovernance, a strong digital economy, and apersistent digital memory. InterPARES Trust is aresearch partnership that comprises over fiftyuniversities and organisations, national andmultinational, public and private, in North America,Latin America, Europe, Africa, Australasia and Asia.

Open government in the UKThe open-government data and access to publicsector information environment in the UK and

Europe is currently in flux. The changes throw upquestions about the roles and responsibilities ofthe professionals who are engaged in deliveringservices to citizens. Recordkeeping policy on accessand the legislative and regulatory frameworks needto be clarified, and the role of the recordkeeperwithin this framework needs to be examined.Whereas the UK’s Freedom of Informationlegislation (2000) was accompanied by officialcodes of practice on how to respond to requestsfor information and the significance of effectiverecords management in complying with freedomof information requirements, there has been littlecomparable guidance for those responsible formanaging and making public sector informationavailable in this new climate of proactive release.

The Role of the Records Manager in anOpen-Government Environment in the UKAn InterPARES Trust Team Europe Research Projectbeing run at University College London,Department of Information Studies in 2014, looksat the role of the records manager in an open-government environment in the UK. The projectwill help to establish what the recordkeepingrequirements are for operating effective andtrusted proactive release within a UK context andwill form a basis for comparative work looking atthe recordkeeping role in Europe and beyond. Themain aim of the project is to consider the role ofrecordkeepers in the context of new obligations onUK government bodies towards open government,open data and enabling greater access toinformation to citizens. The research will seek to


Preserving complexdigital objectsFacet Publishing have announced therelease of Preserving Complex DigitalObjects which is edited by Janet Delve andDavid Anderson of the University ofPortsmouth and draws on the outcomes ofthe JISC-funded Preservation of ComplexObjects (POCOS) symposia.

This ground-breaking edited collection exploresthe challenges of preserving complex digitalobjects such as simulations, visualisations,digital art and video games. Drawing on theoutputs of the JISC-funded Preservation ofComplex Objects (POCOS) symposia,enhanced with specialist pathfinder solutions,this book covers topics such as the legal andtechnical challenges of preservation, curationand authority, and digital archaeology.

Written by international experts from a broadbackground of library, collecting institutions,information and computer science, and digitalpreservation backgrounds, this collectionshowcases the state-of-the-art of the discipline

and brings together stakeholder perspectivesfrom across the preservation community.

The collection is structured around six parts:Part 1: Why and what to preserve: creativity vs preservation Part 2: The memory institution: data archivalperspectives Part 3: Digital preservation approaches,practices and tools Part 4: Case studies Part 5: A legal perspective Part 6: Pathfinder conclusions

Academics and students on digital preservation,digital humanities and informationmanagement courses, and those working inpreservation and collecting for memoryinstitutions will find this a valuable read. It willalso be of particular interest to computerscientists, artists, games and emulationcommunities, archaeologists and digitalforensic scientists.

Preserving Complex Digital Objects; June 2014;paperback; 432pp; 978-1-85604-958-0;£59.95; is published by Facet Publishing and isavailable from <www.facetpublishing.co.uk>

establish a picture of existing practice in the fieldby developing a case study which will consider theenhanced role and skills needed by recordkeepersto fulfil their responsibilities in this environment.The research will also identify and analyse thelegislative and regulatory framework relevant to therecordkeeper’s role in open-government data. Thefinal results will support a better understanding ofthe recordkeeping issues associated with thedevelopment of records policies, which takeaccount of open-government requirements.We plan a detailed case study of how records andopen-government data are managed within onepublic authority (Elizabeth Barber at Kent CountyCouncil has agreed to host a case study).Employing a mixture of data collection techniques(literature survey, observation, surveys andqualitative interviewing) we will explore the reality

of practice, including what and where the differentresponsibilities lie and the changes and challengesof complying with the open-government, open-data environment. This is the first phase of longerproject, during which we plan joint comparativework with Sweden (Stockholm City Council), forexample. We were able to introduce the project tothe IRMS Public Sector Group meeting onManaging Big Data, Open Data on 3 April 2014.We are really pleased to have the support of IRMSin this endeavour and welcome your commentsand suggestions.

For further information about the research pleasecontact the Department of Information Studies atUCL: Professor Elizabeth Shepherd<[email protected]> or Ms Jessica Page<[email protected]>.


ISO 15489 revision

This is an update onprogress with the revisionto ISO 15489. For thebackground, you may findit useful to read two recentarticles that have appearedin the IRMS Bulletin.

The latest draft of a revisedISO 15489 was discussed atthe Washington meeting ofthe ISO Records ManagementCommittee at the beginningof May. The draft discussedhad been circulated at the endof February for a Yes/No voteand comments – these had tobe submitted by participatingcountries by the end of April.BSI, after much discussion bythe National RecordsManagement Committee,took the decision to vote No.The committee felt substantialand material changes were stillrequired and submitted 40pages of comment. Thecommittee also believed thatthe draft presented did notfully meet the original revisionaims agreed by the ISOCommittee.

Of the 28 countries thatvoted, 21 voted Yes, 3 votedNo, with 4 abstentions. But15 countries madecomments – in all there were140 pages of comments.

At the end of two days ofmeetings to review thecomments, the majority of theISO working groupresponsible for the revisionfelt the issues had largely beenaddressed. They were very

keen to move to circulatingthe revision as a DraftInternational Standard (DIS).This can be the final stagebefore publication of an ISOstandard. It is clear that therewould be limited opportunityto make changes to the text atthis stage – it would essentiallybe a Yes/No vote. Severalcountries – including the UK –made clear that if it was asimple Yes/No vote, their voteswould probably be No.

As a result, the ISOCommittee decided that –before moving to a DIS – anew draft would be circulatedat the end of July. Members ofthe working group will haveone month to see whetherthey agreed that all commentshad been addressed. As this islikely to be the finalopportunity to make changes,this draft is being circulated bythe UK committee as widelyas we can within the ISOrules: all members of theIRMS executive, and chairs ofthe IRMS Groups, are beingasked for their views, amongstothers.

A two-day meeting of theISO working group in TheHague in mid-Septemberwill discuss the commentson this new draft.

The intention of the ISOCommittee is to circulate aDraft InternationalStandard early in the NewYear. There would then be a3-month period for votingand comments. At the DISstage, BSI puts drafts on itsWeb site for publiccomment. You are able toaccess the drafts here:<http://drafts.bsigroup.com/> If you’ve not previouslycommented on drafts youwill need to register. We willmake you aware when thedraft of a revised ISO15489 is available.

Rod StoneARA Representative, BSIRecords ManagementCommittee Member, ISORecords ManagementCommittee Working PartyWG13-ISO 15489 Revision<[email protected]>


Data breach at Welsh healthboard after patient details sentto wrong address

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)has found Betsi Cadwaladr University HealthBoard in breach of the Data Protection Act aftersensitive information was sent to the wrongaddress.

The information was disclosed when eight lettersabout patients were sent to one of the peopleaffected in July 2013. The letters should havebeen sent to a GP’s surgery. Six of the lettersincluded sensitive medical information relating tothe patients’ treatment.

An ICO investigation found that the employeeresponsible for the mistake hadn’t received anyform of data protection training. While the healthboard had introduced mandatory data protectiontraining for all staff in April 2013, by February 2014only 6.5% of staff had received it. The healthboard informed the ICO that it did not anticipateproviding the training to all of their staff until April2015.

ICO Assistant Commissioner for Wales, AnneJones, said: “We accept mistakes can happen, butorganisations must make sure employees handlingsensitive personal information are given thenecessary training to carry out their role. BetsiCadwaladr University Health Board failed to dothis.

“The health board has now signed an undertakingcommitting the organisation to improving thetraining provided to its employees. This includesprioritising staff who manage sensitive informationas part of their core role, or who work in a leadinformation governance role within theorganisation by ensuring they’ve received dataprotection training by 30 September 2014. Thehealth board will also make sure their staffcomplete refresher training every two years.

“These improvements will significantly reduce therisks of a future breach occurring and help to keeppatients’ information secure."


The BritishArchitectural Libraryof the Royal Instituteof British Architects(RIBA) became thelatest organisation tojoin the DigitalPreservationCoalition

“As a library, museum andarchive with complex historicanalogue and digitalcollections, we create, ingest,preserve and make accessibledigital objects as a coreactivity,” explains DylanEvans, RIBA’s Head ofSystems & Services. “Ourparticular areas of interestinclude preservation strategiesfor e-Journals, digital

photographs, born digitalarchitecture and electronicdesign records (CAD, BIMand 3-D files), audio visualmaterials and databases.”

“Joining the DigitalPreservation Coalition willprovide us with access to

specialist resources, a uniquenetwork of peer advisors, andcollaborative opportunitiesthat are essential for theLibrary’s promotion,preservation anddevelopments of its importantarchitecture and designcollections,” Dylan continues.

Executive Director of theDigital Preservation Coalition(DPC), William Kilbride said,“We have worked with RIBAfor many years on activitiesrelating to the management ofborn-digital architecture anddesign records and I amdelighted to welcome them tothe coalition. I’m thrilled theywill now benefit from newpartnerships through theDPC’s specialist network ofmembers, taking their goodwork forward.”

New range of courseslaunchedFrom September 2014 TFPL Learning willbe offering a new range of personaldevelopment and information technologycourses in addition to an enhanced range ofknowledge and information managementcourses.

Heather Maggs, Events and Networksmanager for TFPL Learning says: “We arethrilled to be able to offer an expanded rangeof courses at a key time for the developmentof the library and information profession.Having spoken to many of our delegates andTFPL Connect members over the last fewmonths I am convinced that the new coursesmeet a very real need for expanded personaldevelopment opportunities and enhanced

technical knowledge among librarians andinformation professionals.”

“It is vitally important that TFPL Learning isresponsive to the needs of profession weserve,” adds Maria Naylor, AccountDevelopment Manager. “In addition to thefresh courses and webinar series we will alsobe reviewing the feasibility of offeringclassroom courses outside London to bettersupport information professionals basedelsewhere in the UK.”

The addition of the new course streamsmeans that the TFPL Learning portfolio nowencompasses nine key skill areas; insight andintelligence, IT, knowledge and informationmanagement, personal development,publishing and content provision, records anddocument management, research skills, riskand compliance and SharePoint expertise.


10 September · London · Expert recordsmanagement: planning and strategydevelopment This one day workshop is designedfor managers responsible for leading anddeveloping records management services whowant to practice and hone their strategic planningand influencing skills. www.tfpl.com

18 September · London · New approaches torecords management A diverse set of new toolsand approaches have arisen to help organisationscope with the challenge of managing contentspread across repositories such as shared drives,SharePoint sites and e-mail accounts. This coursegives both an explanation and a critique of thesetools and approaches. www.tfpl.com

23 September · London · Introduction torecords management This one day course looksat the core principle of records management, andhow they can be applied to assess and improveyour organisation's record management systems,policies and practice. www.tfpl.com

30 September · London · Social mediagovernance: achieving best practice Maximizeimpact and manage risks of corporate socialmedia. www.aslib.com

21 October · Edinburgh · Public Records(Scotland) Act masterclass The master class willfocus on equipping you with practical skills andtools to improve record keeping in yourorganisation and cost-effectively demonstratecompliance with PRSA. Participants will beprovided with an outline structure for a recordsmanagement plan and encouraged to begin theprocess of drafting.http://igscotland.com/?page_id=100

30 October · Belfast · Records management 1Records management 1 is an introductory levelsession that provides delegates with a thoroughgrounding in the fundamentals of recordsmanagement. www.pdptraining.com

31 October · Belfast · Records management 2Records management 2 is an intermediate levelsession that provides a grounding in thefundamentals of records management.www.pdptraining.com

4 November · London · Basic archive skillstraining day This course aimed at people workingwith archives and records without formalrecordkeeping qualifications, and who feel thatthey would benefit from some basic training in theprinciples of managing records and archives. Theday consists of four core sessions focusing on themain areas of preservation, collecting, appraisaland description. www.archive-skills.com

5 November · London · Archival arrangementand description explained This course providesan in-depth introduction to modern archivaldescription techniques and strategies. It is suitablefor a range of archive and records managementstaff, including those who are new to the area andthose who wish to update their skills. www.archive-skills.com

4 December · London · Records management 1Records management 1 is an introductory levelsession that provides delegates with a thoroughgrounding in the fundamentals of recordsmanagement. www.pdptraining.com

diary2014 september - december

Diary continues >>>>>


dilbert

newmembersseptember2014corporate memberPaperMountains

individual membersMichelle Finnegan

Paul Garlick

>>>>>

5 December · London · Recordsmanagement 2 Recordsmanagement 2 is an intermediatelevel session that provides agrounding in the fundamentals ofrecords management.www.pdptraining.com

17 – 19 May 2015 Celtic Manor Resort · IRMSConference 2015 Theme, detailsand prices coming soon. To book,call +44 (0) 1892 820930.www.irms.org.uk/conference

please visit<www.irms.org.uk/advertise-event>. To ensure that your eventis considered for inclusion in thenext Bulletin please submit yourevent before the Bulletin copydeadline (see page 2 of thisedition). Unfortunately due tospace restrictions we cannotguarantee that all events areincluded. For more events pleasevisit <www.irms.org.uk/events>

To advertise yourevent in the Bulletin

AMIRMS - AccreditedMember of theInformation and RecordsManagement Society.The benchmark of

information and recordsmanagement excellence.

Apply for IRMSAccreditedMembership

Show employers and clients that you meet the standardwww.IRMS.org.uk/accreditation

RecordsManagementfor SchoolsBased upon the successful IRMSRecords Management Toolkit forSchools

A training day near you, during the midterm holiday in October

Locations – London, Leeds, Cardiff,Edinburgh, Belfast

For further informationcontact [email protected]

IRMS wishes to thank TFPLfor their kind offer of a 15%course fee discount available

to all IRMS members on the standard courselist price for all public access courses.

Please contact [email protected] for details

15% course feediscount for allIRMS members

Documents

Bulletin 181