Answer:
This was a question that was asked by a client during a discussion on the management of their records. A great question, and one that that I imagine has plagued the records management professional since the beginning of time. As a consultant I certainly do not have a definitive answer to the problem. However, I do have some insight and suggestions that will probably have people wondering if I have perfected the art of “compromise” or perfected the art of “giving up”.
This is not an easy question to answer as much depends on how the organization manages their records. Here are a few examples of engineering records that I have over the course of years in many organizations I have worked with.
. One organization sent a copy of their purchase orders to accounts payable and retained the
original.
My recommendation to the organization was to send the original document to accounting and retain a copy for internal use. While the accounting director agreed that this would be best business practice, they had not experienced a problem or write up by the State Auditor.
. Drawings maintained at multiple areas within the organization. Which was current?
I believe I have run across this problem at every organization that I had the opportunity to work with as a consultant or as an employee. While the original “as built” drawings were being maintained properly, the maintenance personnel on-site were making changes (redlines) on their copy of the drawings but those changes were not being transferred to original drawings. Staff using those originals would be unaware of those changes.
Ideally, all revisions would be accomplished by creating a new document that reflects the current information and copies then sent to the locations. If this updating was not done and/or they did not have a formal engineering function I had two recommendations to insure that the most current document was available to the organization:
1. Establish a written process and procedure for the management of changes to the engineering drawings. This option relies on the cooperation of the people who are making the changes to insure that all locations are aware of the change to the drawing.
2. If your drawing collection is indexed in an electronic document management system try to indicate the locations that have the drawings.
I currently use Microsoft™ Access for indexing, but it could easily be accomplished in Microsoft™ Excel or Word.
Again, this option also relies on the cooperation of the people making the changes to communicate with the person responsible for managing the drawings.
. Duplicate copies of bid, contract and other engineering project documentation:
There are many times when documents are maintained within the organization for different reasons and copies of the same document may have different retention periods. Also the person responsible for keeping the documents may differ within various organizations. For example; bid and contract documentation may be the responsibility of the purchasing department or law department and disposed of as established by the organizations’ retention program. However, both documents may be considered as part of the engineering project documentation and maybe retained for the life or sale of the property. In this case, the bid and contract documents retained by the purchasing and legal departments may be destroyed earlier as established by the organization retention policy. This is where you must work closely with your attorney and accounting when you assign a retention period to the documents.
When working with clients it is always a game of compromise to hopefully get their cooperation and establish the processes and procedures to manage the records in the long term.
BobDalton, CRM of Dalton Consulting
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Why do you still remain active in ARMA
Question:
Why do you still remain active in ARMA?
Response:
This question was recently asked by my son during a conversation on retirement. For those of you, who do not know me I have already retired twice, but continue to work as a way to keep my mind active, plus develop my skills and knowledge which in turn provides value to my clients in a profession I enjoy.
Cheryl L. Pederson, CRM, the President of ARMA wrote a great article titled “What’s in it for You?” that recently arrived in my e-mail that listed all the benefits the association provides members. She wrote about the educational opportunities, our annual association conference, networking, friendships, standards and best practices, benchmarking, and unique resources available to association members. She is absolutely correct on stating that these are valuable resources for those who wish to maintain their knowledge base. We owe it to ourselves to take advantage of all the resources available to us to insure that we stay proficient in our chosen profession.
One of the most outstanding programs provided by ARMA, the web seminars, are in my opinion, a real bonus to those of us who do not have the time or resources to attend seminars. While I may not have an immediate need for the type of information the seminar provides, it does increase my understanding of some of the issues brought out by the speaker. The question and answer session after the web seminar provide an opportunity to clarify your understanding directly with the speaker. It is also a bonus to be able to watch the presentation at a time of my convenience.
If I was working in the private and/or public sector I would try to reserve a room to view the presentations as a training session on records management for the staff. For example, one session; “New Rules in Electronic Discovery – and Their Impact upon Records Management”, presented by ARMA International and our own Puget Sound Chapter Member Joan Feldman, Managing Director OF Navigant Consulting Discovery Services Practice Group in Seattle, would be ideal for Information Management and the Legal Department staff. Another session; “Put the Cart Before the Horse: Why records management needs should play a larger role in defining and selecting enterprise content management systems”, presented by ARMA International and our good friend from British Columbia, Canada, Art Bellis, Director of Sales & Marketing for OmniRIM Solutions Inc. Art provides excellent information on the legal and compliance issues on why the records management should be involved in selecting an enterprise content management system.
Remember that the sessions are free as one of the benefits from your membership in the association. You may sign up for the seminars at http://www.arma.org/learningcenter/webseminars/index.cfm . The seminars are also maintained in the archives and available at the same website. Do take advantage of this educational opportunity!
Education is one of the keys to being successful in our profession. Note that our Great Northwest Region Coordinator, Fran Blaylock, wrote an excellent article on “Resilience, the Stepping Stone to a stronger ARMA and RIM Profession” that will appear in the March 2006 newsletters in our region. One statement she makes stood out to me; “Education is the key to staying resilient and prepared to take on any challenge”. Local chapter educational programs provides a forum to gain valuable knowledge of the records and information management field. In addition, the chapter meeting offers the attendees the opportunity to network and share information with others in our profession.
I encourage each and every one to take advantage of your membership and utilize the educational opportunities offered by ARMA International and your local chapter.
BobDalton, CRM of Dalton Consulting
Note: My thanks to Barbara Werelius, Records Manager and Guru at Tacoma Public Utilities, and the Puget Sound Chapter of ARMA for her assistance in the development of this article.
Why do you still remain active in ARMA?
Response:
This question was recently asked by my son during a conversation on retirement. For those of you, who do not know me I have already retired twice, but continue to work as a way to keep my mind active, plus develop my skills and knowledge which in turn provides value to my clients in a profession I enjoy.
Cheryl L. Pederson, CRM, the President of ARMA wrote a great article titled “What’s in it for You?” that recently arrived in my e-mail that listed all the benefits the association provides members. She wrote about the educational opportunities, our annual association conference, networking, friendships, standards and best practices, benchmarking, and unique resources available to association members. She is absolutely correct on stating that these are valuable resources for those who wish to maintain their knowledge base. We owe it to ourselves to take advantage of all the resources available to us to insure that we stay proficient in our chosen profession.
One of the most outstanding programs provided by ARMA, the web seminars, are in my opinion, a real bonus to those of us who do not have the time or resources to attend seminars. While I may not have an immediate need for the type of information the seminar provides, it does increase my understanding of some of the issues brought out by the speaker. The question and answer session after the web seminar provide an opportunity to clarify your understanding directly with the speaker. It is also a bonus to be able to watch the presentation at a time of my convenience.
If I was working in the private and/or public sector I would try to reserve a room to view the presentations as a training session on records management for the staff. For example, one session; “New Rules in Electronic Discovery – and Their Impact upon Records Management”, presented by ARMA International and our own Puget Sound Chapter Member Joan Feldman, Managing Director OF Navigant Consulting Discovery Services Practice Group in Seattle, would be ideal for Information Management and the Legal Department staff. Another session; “Put the Cart Before the Horse: Why records management needs should play a larger role in defining and selecting enterprise content management systems”, presented by ARMA International and our good friend from British Columbia, Canada, Art Bellis, Director of Sales & Marketing for OmniRIM Solutions Inc. Art provides excellent information on the legal and compliance issues on why the records management should be involved in selecting an enterprise content management system.
Remember that the sessions are free as one of the benefits from your membership in the association. You may sign up for the seminars at http://www.arma.org/learningcenter/webseminars/index.cfm . The seminars are also maintained in the archives and available at the same website. Do take advantage of this educational opportunity!
Education is one of the keys to being successful in our profession. Note that our Great Northwest Region Coordinator, Fran Blaylock, wrote an excellent article on “Resilience, the Stepping Stone to a stronger ARMA and RIM Profession” that will appear in the March 2006 newsletters in our region. One statement she makes stood out to me; “Education is the key to staying resilient and prepared to take on any challenge”. Local chapter educational programs provides a forum to gain valuable knowledge of the records and information management field. In addition, the chapter meeting offers the attendees the opportunity to network and share information with others in our profession.
I encourage each and every one to take advantage of your membership and utilize the educational opportunities offered by ARMA International and your local chapter.
BobDalton, CRM of Dalton Consulting
Note: My thanks to Barbara Werelius, Records Manager and Guru at Tacoma Public Utilities, and the Puget Sound Chapter of ARMA for her assistance in the development of this article.
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