At first glance the contents of the `summer' issue of the journal might seem a rather eclectic combination but, as I came to write the editorial it occurred to me that they do in fact all have something in common. They all address an issue or issues which are currently challenging records managers and the profession. Since it is not our intention to have a theme for any other than the international issue, I wonder if this is simply a quirk of fate or does it say something about what is interesting today's records management practitioners and academics and the currency of the journal. Of course I hope it is the latter.
The subject of our opinion piece, written by Gillian Moore, is a very `hot' topic - freedom of information. Until the publication of the Government's White Paper on the topic, the United Kingdom had lagged behind several other countries in terms of legislation for freedom of information. Happily that is no longer the case and now those public organisations which are affected by the Act will need to work quickly to comply with the requirements. For many readers the details and the implications may be already well known but for those on the periphery perhaps not. Gillian spells out some of the key points and gives us her own views on the requirements and implications for records managers and archivists.
We are all well aware of the problems and opportunities which information technology developments, particularly the Internet and web technology, have created for records managers in the last two decades.
We are also well aware that the knowledge contained in records must be captured into an organisation's memory if it is to be managed and shared for the benefit of the organisation, but how can we do that? Graham Beastall, with considerable IT expertise and as director of a software company, is well placed to attempt to provide an answer to this question. First he explores some of the problems and opportunities and then he proposes a three phase strategy for managing records and knowledge in the current, and likely future, technological environment.
In contrast to the very pragmatic challenges explored in these first two articles Zawiyah Yusof and Robert Chell explore a perhaps more academic challenge - the question of definitions. In the first of two articles (the second will be published in a 1999 issue of the journal) they examine the various definitions of records and the need to redefine the concept to ensure it is applicable in today's electronic environment. In their second article they will look at the definition of records management in the context of the development of the profession.
My co-editor Catherine Hare provides us with a `first' for the Records Management Journal which is a report of the 4th International Records Management Congress held recently in Edinburgh. The idea behind including such a report was to provide an insight into the main themes and talking points which emerged from what was a very important conference for the profession. Catherine's aim is not to duplicate other conference reports or the full proceedings and, since the conference title was `records management into the next millennium - the global perspective' it has that same thread of current challenges and issues as the other articles.
I am pleased to be able to bring you another of our study guides - this one on the subject of retention schedules. This will always be an issue for records managers and I suspect remain a challenge! Keith Batchelor shares with us his experience and his own approach to developing a records retention schedule. He gives guidance on headings, layouts, use of time scales and sources of information and concludes with his thoughts on the importance of having a proper workable records retention and destruction schedule in regular use throughout your organisation in order to comply with the forthcoming Freedom of Information Act. So, my thanks to Keith for bringing us full circle, so to speak!
And finally, two book reviews - one about archivists and the other for records managers - and both very worthy additions to the body of records management literature. As always I do hope you enjoy this issue and look forward to receiving any comments and your contributions for future issues.
Julie McLeod