Editorial

Records Management Journal

ISSN: 0956-5698

Article publication date: 1 August 2004

298

Citation

Hare, C. (2004), "Editorial", Records Management Journal, Vol. 14 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/rmj.2004.28114baa.001

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2004, Emerald Group Publishing Limited


Editorial

Welcome to the second issue of Volume 14 of the Records Management Journal. The items in this issue cover a wide range of topics. Some of them fall into a series of pairs, which are complemented by a review of a major archive, a thinkpiece about the relationship between records management and knowledge management and the results of a survey of records use in Nigeria.

Starting with the pairs, the jointly authored opinion piece by Mathieu Gouanou and Mike Marsh explores the dynamic interaction between records management and software development. Mathieu Gouanou, an IT engineer, shares and develops his views with Mike Marsh, who presents the records management perspective, thus demonstrating the need for representatives of these two key stakeholder groups to work together to achieve effective and efficient recordkeeping in the electronic environment. They explore how the drive for accountability and compliance with legal and other regulatory requirements has resulted in the development of software products by newly constituted commercial enterprises. The article by Ekweozor and Theodoulidis then sustains and further extends this dual perspective in an extensive review of retention management functionality. They review the main software products currently available, by identifying a set of key criteria against which the products are tested and compared. In both cases the authors also look ahead to potential future developments.

We then have a pair of book reviews, both by Carl Newton and in each case of a multi-authored work. One is in the form of a Festschrift for Dr Michael Cook, who is being honoured for his lifetime work in promoting records management in the UK and overseas. The other is a collection of articles on the theme of archives and the public good is hailed by the reviewer as probably the most important work to be published on archives since Posner’s Archives and the Public Interest of 1967.

The article from Jacquie Kavanagh, who helped to set up, and has been in charge of, the BBC Written Archives since 1974, describes and explains the evolution of one of the major broadcasting archives in the world today. Stephen Uwaifo from Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria has a narrower focus, taking as his context a single university in Nigeria, where he reviews and critically analyses the management use of records. He also makes recommendations for the future. Although it has a specific focus, the data collection instrument used and the methods applied, would have transferability to other contexts.

The final piece is a typically robust analysis of concepts and trends from Ken Tombs, who draws on his wide-ranging experience in his critical evaluation and comparison of knowledge management and records management.

We hope that these items inform and stimulate your ideas and perhaps encourage you to consider submitting an article or opinion piece for publication. We look forward to hearing from you.

Catherine Hare

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