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R.I.M. – A Profession or an Industry?

By Doug Allen, CRM, CDIA+ | January 20, 2008

Is Records and Information Management a profession, or is it an industry?  I suspect that the answer depends largely on your perspective.  Some of us who happen to be vendors, those who supply practitioners with the software, hardware, services and materials needed to function might view it as both profession and industry.  According to the American Heritage Dictionary, a profession is “an occupation or career” and according to Wikipedia, a profession is “an occupation, vocation or career where specialized knowledge of a subject, field or science is applied.  On the other hand, an industry is “a basic category of business activity,” according to Investorwords.com.   

My personal view is that it is a profession, not an industry.  Those who are practitioners and those who consider themselves to be career vendor professionals both engage in the occupation as a career where specialized knowledge is required, where specific competencies are needed to ensure the success of our endeavors.  I believe that it would be quite challenging to persuade those who manufacture steel shelving for records storage centers to agree that they are in the “same industry” as those who provide Enterprise Content Management software.  ECM tools, shelving, outsourced services are all tools used by the profession, and do not comprise an “industry”.

 

How one views “this thing of ours” called Records and Information Management has a great deal to do with the expectations that we might have when we form, join or participate in an Association.  For most of us, I believe that we join or participate in order to advance our careers within our chosen or adopted “profession”, not to further a specific “industry”.  Our expectations are that our Associations actively promote the cause of a viable and vibrant profession, and that they serve to further our educational needs – as we continue to seek that specialized knowledge and the specialized skills that we need to ensure our individual and collective success.

 

Profession or industry?  While some may consider our endeavor an industry, I remain committed to viewing it as a profession.

Topics: ARMA International - Activities & Commentary |

One Response to “R.I.M. – A Profession or an Industry?”

  1. Judy Tyler, CRM Says:
    January 22nd, 2008 at 10:46 am

    Doug,

    I agree that I few Records and Information Management as a profession. When I think of an industry, I tend to think of looking in the yellow pages for a business that meets my needs, such as a jewelry, store, a shoe store, etc. :) Although you can find Records Management service companies or companies that service Records Management, you do not find a Records Management store. Another expample is a plumber. A plumber is a profession. A store where you buy the plumbing supplies, to me is an industry. A plumbing company provides a service, the business would be an industry, but the plumber is a professional. My 1 Cent.

    Judy Tyler, CRM

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