 | It is difficult to capture electronic documentation in a global
organization. Most corporate archives have a "mission without
mandate" -- everything is based upon informal networking. |
| Mergers have led to new bosses without archival awareness. They
also have raised issues about how to merge collections. |
| Electronic records are created without much thought -- they are
more "informal" than other records. One consequence is
that the archives does not get the same kinds of records from the
chairman’s office because of the use of electronic systems. |
| There is a lack of training. Records management does not offer
training in how to create and label boxes. |
| The archives has boxes of unappraised records. We can’t keep up
with the processing of paper records. |
| The organizational placement of archives and records management is
an issue. Often they are placed in the Facilities area. This means
the archives only is involved with appraisal at the end of the life
cycle, at the time of destruction notices. |
| There is a need for more training of staff in various departments. |
| Our issues are not the company’s issues; the company has a
short-term focus. |
| To summarize the context of corporate archives: small staffs,
mission without mandate, stacks of unprocessed records; heavy
reference load, and a shortage of space. |
| The corporate Intranet is a way to reach out internationally. |
| One corporate archives has tracked print and media advertising.
Should they track advertising on the Internet? Can they move beyond
just printing out and filing copies of Web pages? |
| One company uses a software "web whacker" to capture
corporate sites and all of the links. They store this on a Zip
drive. |
| It is impossible to stay on top of electronic technologies. |
| Space is a big issue. |
| There is a transitional nature to business -- employees turn over
quickly. |
| Intranets are being used for more types of information: general
distribution of notices, press releases, policy and procedure
statements, etc. In fact, these may be easier to collect via an
electronic distribution list: we can collect them from the start. |
| One strategy is not to preserve an entire Web site, but rather the
records behind the site. |
| In the last ten years, corporate acquisitions have changed.
Corporations now take a more active approach. |
| How computer-savvy are corporate archivists? They need to get more
conversant with the technology. |
| In terms of overseas operations, how can we document them without
more money or people? |
| How do we define what we are doing as archivists? Is it really an
"international archives," or are we a "North American
archives with an international component." Electronic systems
may allow more international documentation. |
| The central question is: What will be the shape of the archives in
the future? |
| How/what do we collect now? Fewer manuals and policies are being
received. |
| We can view interest in the impending millennium as a stepping
stone and opportunity to increase budgets. We need to deal with
electronic records now or we with have nothing to deal with in the
future. |
| "Documenting" can be more expensive and labor intensive
in electronic form. There also is a great deal of error and
misinformation in the Internet. |
| What does your management expect you to be preserving? Do we need
to do a better job of communicating our mission? |
| What are the "business needs?" Do the business units
even know their needs? |
| Electronic records can be an opportunity to think globally,
rather than an obstacle. |
| One corporation has issued a directive that electronic media will
be the official storage medium. Have all the implications of this
policy been considered? |
| Corporate archives tend to be strong in executive correspondence
and weak in documenting other areas, like manufacturing. The latter
often is done in technical libraries. |
| Is there an "official corporate language?" Some
corporations are very decentralized and globally dispersed. One
company is a holding company for over 2,000 separate, decentralized
companies. |
| Staffing issues are crucial: how does an archives get additional
full-time staff? |
| Corporations only spend money on profit centers. Most profit
centers don’t have records managers. |
| Poor description of boxes stored in the records center is a
problem. |
| Some companies only have one Intranet; others have multiple
Intranets. Are the problems of documentation different in these two
cases? |
| We seldom ask the question: What kind of information technology do
the majority of employees have? Can all employees access electronic
information? For example, does everyone have speakers on PCs? |
| Can there be a "records management function" without a
real records manager? Sometimes as archivists we have to "go
around" an ineffective records management program. |
| Some corporate managements "get it" in terms of
archives; others don’t. |
| Does senior management use computers? This is important to know
before trying to build support for an electronic records program. |
| Information Technology teams have a great deal of turnover. How do
we build a long-term relationship with them? |
| A related issue is the electronic dissemination of archival
materials. |
| Having everything, full text, on line is too much for end users.
We still need archivists as filters/gate keepers. This is a
value-added role for the archivist. |
| Many in our organizations are asking: "How do I access
information about ...?" Archivists need to get out in front, to
propose solutions, and to drive the process. |
| Recent mergers with various libraries within the corporation has
greatly helped one archives. |
| In cooperative efforts, techies tend to overwhelm others. |
| It is crucial to align the archives on a regular basis with the
computer professionals in the corporation. One successful approach
has been to get an "IS liaison" appointed to work with the
Archives. |
| An issue is records now only "born" electronically, like
phone directories and press releases. These documents are no longer
distributed on paper. |
| Archivists may be able to bring "political clout" to the
table. We can offer this to Information Technology. Archivists
should not be apologetic. |
| Archivists also speak for the end users in system design. |
| The "IS view" is short term while the "archives
view" is long term. |
| Everyone now is focusing on solving the "Year 2000
Problem." |
| We need a partnership relationship with IS. One archives has an IS
person assigned to its group. This IS person’s annual performance
review is based in part on archives input. Archivists’
relationships with IS need to go beyond just calling the Help Desk. |
| Can we use alliances with corporate attorneys to move us forward
with this? |
| One strategy is to establish a pilot project to preserve
electronic versions of items previously preserved on paper. These
items often are found on the corporate Intranet. One approach is to
establish your own "archives server" where IS can migrate
this data. This is a "custodial view" of electronic
records. |
| If the records are electronic, do you even need an
archives? We no longer need to move paper to the archives to
preserve it. |
| At a minimum, the archives will be the custodian of the
"metadata" whether or not it is the custodian of the
records. We cannot fight the fact that corporations are getting more
connected rather than less connected. |
| There probably are two choices: |
| The first question is: is documenting the global corporation part
of the mission of the archives? Do we really have global
responsibility? No one present had explicit language in his or her
mission authorizing this approach, though at least one mission
statement implied global documentation. |
| We need to clarify the expectations of management. Resources will
flow from this. |
| In some countries there is a sense of regional identity. They don’t
want someone from headquarters coming in to tell them how to run the
business. |
| Some countries do not permit the removal of records because of the
fear of loss of cultural legacy. Often there are legal and
regulatory issues around the subject of cultural legacy. |
| One company has a very clear mandate from the CEO to document the
international operations. The archives began with an oral history
project in Russia. They are developing an "e-mail
template" to send on a regular basis to country managers to
collect information about key activities. They have asked the CEO’s
office to preserve international reports that it receives. The
archivists visit the Public Relations people in various countries --
these are the people who have the history. They collect ideas for
exhibits and displays. |
| Some companies are changing structure. Instead of organizing by country,
they are organizing by business unit across country lines.
Maybe archivists should be assigned to specific business units? |
| There can be problems in regulated industries. Different countries
have different retention and regulatory requirements. |
| One approach is to emphasize pride in international operations:
"We don’t have much in our archives about your operations. We’d
like to help you preserve it. Call us if you want to move forward on
this." |
| One archivist visits corporate offices whenever traveling. This
increases the knowledge of what exists internationally and puts a
"face" on the archives. |
| One corporation is emphasizing making duplicates of photos and
films rather than asking people to send their originals. |
| How can we best use our "clout?" Globalization will
require big resources. We need to get top-level buy-in and support. |
| European terminology is different. When we say
"archives," they think "records management." In
addition, Europeans tend to think longer term when thinking about
history. |
| As groups move into new markets, the heritage of the company is a
way to distinguish it from the competition. Managers also are
interested in previous activity in the country. |
| In one company there is no business justification yet (hard dollar
argument) for collecting globally. In this company products tend to
be introduced globally at the same time as in the U.S. |
| Direct access to the CEO is a two-edged sword. Can you complain
over your the head of your boss? While there may be fewer levels
now, we still need to go through the chain of command. |
| The archives needs a series of allies at different levels. It
takes years of plugging away at these relationships. |
| How can an archives remain relevant to a global corporation if it
does not document the global corporation? The same can be said for
companies using electronic records extensively. |
| We need an endorsement of philosophy, but does management realize
the implications? |
| We need to discover "pockets of global information:"
advertising, brand management, etc. |
| With companies that have separate international components, we
need the support and clout of the international leaders. One
approach is to conduct oral history interviews with international
leaders when they come to headquarters. |
| One company is considering establishing "satellite
archives" around the world. |
| So much depends on relationships and relationship management. |
| Archivists should turn "reference activity" into
"outreach/acquisition activity." You’re showing your
value-added service. |
| The "top down hammer" is not the only way to build a
system. Another way is to help people in the trenches solve
problems. Use these examples to sell management on a larger project. |
| Centralized records management has lost support in many
corporations. People in the corporations don’t understand the
distinction between archives and records management. There is little
training in records management. Almost no one is a corporation is
evaluated on "records management skills," even when
recordkeeping errors cost the corporation a great deal of money. |
| One company has an excellent records management program developed
15 years ago with archival input. It is called "information
access," not records management. They have RM at all levels.
Records coordinators are trained. Compliance forms must be
completed. In terms of electronic records, each week everyone in the
corporation gets a notice about their expired electronic files, with
the option to retain or delete. Records analysts audit compliance. |
| We need to emphasize that records management is a line, not a
staff responsibility. |
| In some companies, paper and electronic records management are not
integrated. They may be managing "media" and
"formats," but they are not managing "records." |
