Editorial

Citation

McLeod, J. (2014), "Editorial", Records Management Journal, Vol. 24 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/RMJ-06-2014-0028

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Records Management Journal, Volume 24, Issue 2

The idea for a special issue on the topic of open data and big data germinated some time ago largely driven by research and development projects (#B1) I was undertaking with colleagues at Northumbria, but also because of wider developments concerning open access and the potential for data re-use to have economic as well as societal benefits (#B2). In fact, in 2012, I devoted my editorial of one of the Records Management Journal (RMJ) issues to the topic of “open data” or “open information”, sharing my own thoughts on the opportunities and challenges it presents for our profession (#B3). I boldly said that:

[t]he open access, open data agenda […] opens up some interesting avenues for the records profession and is a topic we would like to cover in more detail in a future issue of the Records Management Journal (#B3).

This is that issue.

I was keen to have a guest editor for such a special issue, surprisingly our first guest editor outside the Editorial Advisory Board. I was absolutely delighted when Dr Anne Thurston, Director of the International Records Management Trust, agreed to accept the invitation. I can think of no better person to guest edit a special issue on this topic given her work on transparency and accountability and her passion for the topic of open data. In summer 2013, with input from Board members and Anne, we circulated a call for papers for a special issue focused on the opportunities and challenges of managing not only open data but also big data. We sought contributions that considered the application of records management and archival theory to:

• data management;

• technologies, tools and systems for access, analysis, use and re-use;

• retention and preservation;

• user and organisational needs;

• rights, ownership and ethics; and

• professional roles and skills, etc.

We were interested in different disciplinary perspectives from researchers, academics and practitioners in the form of viewpoints, critical reviews, research, case studies or conceptual/philosophical papers. We had an excellent response, and I believe the contributions in this issue span a wide spectrum.

Open data and big data are different: open data may be something other than big data and big data is not necessarily open data. However, they are often discussed in tandem. Open data are widely understood to be information/data that are freely available for anyone to use and for any purpose under some licence such as an open government or Creative Commons licence. Big data, despite its name, are not simply large quantities of data, it is more complex. Gartner’s current definition of big data is “high-volume, high-velocity and high-variety information assets that demand cost-effective, innovative forms of information processing for enhanced insight and decision making” (#B4; #B7). This highlights the essential characteristics of big data which make it complex – the “three Vs”. Big data comprise a combination of increasing amounts (volume) of unstructured, semi-structured and/or structured data (variety), which are rapidly available for rapid analysis (velocity), and hence, standard tools, such as databases and software applications, are inadequate to capture, curate, manage and analyse it. Additional characteristics, also beginning with the letter V, are sometimes included in discussions about big data; for example, veracity (integrity and trustworthiness) and value (#B5; #B6), both of which resonate well with records managers and archivists.

Different contributors discuss the two concepts, and we deliberately have not attempted to remove any overlap in terms of definitions and coverage, as it is important that each article can be read and understood on its own and not depend on being read in tandem with the others. Also, different authors have different interpretations of some of the definitions, and this is important to recognise and reflect upon. Together the contributions offer a real and a hypothetical (conceptual) case study, two research papers which explore different opportunities and challenges for records managers, including the use of visual analytics tools, records management processes and controls and wider ethical and research methodology issues, and a research paper which examines the terminology that is used in the open data and records management disciplines to aid future communication and collaboration.

Coincidentally, the book review in this issue is pertinent to the topic. I hope you find our first guest-edited issue of the RMJ stimulating.

Julie McLeod

References

Economic and Social Research Council (2013), available at: www.esrc.ac.uk/news-and-events/announcements/29495/update-on-esrc-big-data-network-phase-3.aspx (accessed 3 June 2014).

Gartner, “IT glossary. Big data”, available at: www.gartner.com/it-glossary/big-data/ (accessed 3 June 2014).

JISC, available at: www.jisc.ac.uk/aboutus.aspx (accessed 3 June 2014).

Laney, D. (2001), “3D data management: controlling data volume, velocity and variety. Gartner”, available at: http://blogs.gartner.com/doug-laney/files/2012/01/ad949-3D-Data-Management-Controlling-Data-Volume-Velocity-and-Variety.pdf (accessed 3 June 2014).

McKinsey Global Institute (2011), “Big data: the next frontier for innovation, competition and productivity”, available at: www.mckinsey.com/insights/business_technology/big_data_the_next_frontier_for_innovation (accessed 3 June 2014).

McLeod, J. (2012), “Thoughts on the opportunities for records professionals of the open access, open data agenda”, Records Management Journal, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 92-97.

Ward, J.S. and Barker, A. (2013), “Undefined by data: a survey of big data definitions”, available at: http://arxiv.org/abs/1309.5821 (accessed 3 June 2014).