There’s one very good way for ARMA members to do that.  That would be through an opt-in request for such emails.  Members can opt-in for a variety of e-mail newsletter subscriptions – including: a RIM Marketing reminder, the Washington, Canadian and European Policy Briefs, the Information Management Newswire and the General Email Alert.  In order to access those options (those which may be most valuable to you, you can log in to the ARMA website with your email address and password, open up your account preferences and then to opt-in for those notifications that you’d like to receive.

Once on that page, you can note those newsletter subscriptions that you’d like to receive, can request the format for emails (html or text), can opt for an online election ballot, and can note other preferences as well – especially how you might not wish to be contacted.  Finally, you can ask not to have your email address released to vendors, or can request that your email address not be displayed in the ARMA member directory.

 If you review that site – something that I check on a periodic basis, don’t forget to click on the “submit changes” to ensure that those changes are applied to your membership.

The goals here are to ensure that members receive that information that they find most valuable, and that they are not “assaulted” by unwanted email.  However, remember….. if you don’t opt-in for some of that information, you won’t get it, and are then likely to not know of what is happening in those different areas. 

The somewhat belated response to Bill Benedon’s email note is that ARMA members can receive up-to-date information, including those items that relate to potential governance changes.  However, it is up to each member to determine whether they wish to see that information.

Now, just as some “food for thought”.  Does the professional future for Records and Information Management include:

(1) The merger of ECM (Enterprise Content Management) and BPM (Business Process Management) technology suites?

(2) Does our foreseeable future include new advances in those technologies, where the software firms involved incorporate aspects of instant messaging, wiki, “forum”, and social networking capabilities? 

(3) Can we foresee some real challenges and problems with the inclusion of new technologies as we seek to ensure that our organizations comply with statutes and regulations – within our home nations and beyond?

(4) Do we foresee the need for significantly enhanced skill sets among Records and Information Management professionals, and what might those be?

(5) Would anyone reading this like to take on the task of the challenge that the Enterprise/Web 2.0 tools may pose to organizations, as they seek to comply with regulatory requirements, with e-discovery needs, and with efforts to manage information more effectively?

(6) Are we faced with a future that includes increased levels of governmental regulation?

(7) Are Records and Information Managers going to be called on to manage or to work with stakeholders including IT, and Legal to manage “non-record” electronic information as well?

The above are just a few examples of what each of us might consider in first evaluating our visible future, and in mapping out our plans to prepare for that future.  Again, the comments of all are welcomed here!

If you are a member of ARMA International….and wish to comment further, please register on the Forum site incorporated in this blog site.  Simply register with a name that I can track to an ARMA membership account, and you’ll be welcomed to provide input on additional topics, including the specific ARMA International Vision/Mission/Goals and Values Statements, etc.  Your involvement and comment can only help ARMA International in developing programs, products and services that will help your career prospects!

 Your participation is important.  It provides the Strategic Planning Committee with your thoughts helps us determine what we want to see for our profession (our vision), what we are all about - or what we do (our mission), our goals, and the issues that we address.  I won’t go into detail about the entire planning process, but the Committee will meet between August 1 and 3 in Kansas City.  At that meeting, we’ll review our existing strategy, determine where we want to go from here, and what we’ll be doing in the future – beginning next July (yes – July, 2009).

 For those interested in seeing and learning what the planning process is all about and what our plan provides for today, please check this link, and log into the ARMA International Members site.  That provide you with what the Strategic Planning Committee has established as our plan, as of today.    Let us know what you think by linking to the survey located at the bottom of that link in so far as the key issues are concerned.  The text at the bottom of that page reads as follows:  “Tell us what you think.”

You can tell us more, however than just those issues on which we should focus time, attention and monetary resources.  You can participate in a full discussion regarding all aspects of the plan, and can help determine what ARMA will do for you and for other members of the profession in future years.  In order to go beyond the survey responses, I invite you to click on the link for this blog site, entitled “Forums” on the top right corner of this page.  If you’d like to register and to provide us with your comments, questions, etc., just register – provide just a bit of information (ensuring that you’re over the age of 13), your email address, and I’ll ensure that your registration is approved.  The only limitation that I’ll point to here is that we’re seeking input from members of ARMA International, thus in order to have your registration approved, you must be an ARMA member.

If you do that, your comments, questions and issues will be raised directly with those responsible for determining ARMA’s future.  We’ll be better able to determine what is most important to you and what we can do for you.

 Thank you in advance for considering participating in the Forum on ARMA Strategic Planning – I look forward to your contribution!

The Attorney General’s office in question contacted me…and I imagine a few others to ask about Records Management practices in a particular vertical industry.  Among other things, they were interested in learning:

• What are or what should be the requirements for a Corporate Records and Information Manager
• What education and training such an individual should have, what kind of staffing levels should exist, based on the characteristics of this industry
• What training would be or should be provided to company employees, and
• What standards and best practices exist as it pertains to protecting “individual identifying information

The apparent reasons for the questions raised, were that the firm in question appeared to have a Corporate Records Manager, but one that did not happen to be a Certified Records Manager (CRM).  The organization also had specific policies in place that all employees were to follow.  However, it appears that in one particular instance, in the State in question, an employee of the firm disregarded those policies and failed to adequately protect that personal identifying information.  Since the State had a statute in place designed to discourage such failures, and an Attorney General who took privacy protection seriously, legal action was taken against that firm.

While I do not know the specifics of the case, or the specifics of the alleged violation of statute, the message that I got from the discussion was as quite telling.  That message is: that merely having a “Records Manager” is not apt to be enough to “inoculate” a firm against potential litigation, that a firm involved in such litigation is likely to have a serious probe of its Records Management program and policies become part of that litigation, that the qualifications of the Records Manager, the training of that Manager, and the support for that Manager will be considered to be fair game.  Additionally, those involved in litigation will compare quite closely the practices that firms undertake, given existing standards today.  It also demonstrated the potential damage and the potential issues that can arise, since so many employees actually handle such information today.

Is this a singular case that will not recur?  My opinion is that it will not.  States that take new Statutes regarding privacy seriously can be counted on to pursue those who disregard those statutes.  Firms that pay lip service to Records Management, without taking such efforts seriously will be challenged and may pay high price for failing to mitigate the risks involved with mishandling information that contains personal identifying information of employees and customers.

“If your career involves consulting, advising, or otherwise providing solutions to other people in any capacity, whether it is to consumers who seek your expertise, or peers within your own specialty who stand to gain something from the information you can impart upon them, your personal sense of ethics is a premier point by which others will judge you.”

During my 33+ years in the information management business, I’ve seen many of our compatriots heed this advisory, and those individuals have typically prospered over time and remain in the business.  Others who failed to recognize the role of ethical conduct in success have more often that not “evaporated”, and have often moved on to destinations unknown.

For those of us who are members of ARMA International, many of us are aware of ARMA’s Code of Professional Responsibility, although it would not be a bad idea for us to review that code from time to time.  There are provisions for the enforcement of that Code of Professional Responsibility, but I am happy to report that instances where complaints are filed, or where disciplinary action is deemed appropriate are quite rare. 

If you have time to review the article, and to review the Code of Professional Responsibility, I would recommend highly recommend it.  Not because I see most of us as lacking in any way, but to ensure that we appreciate the link between ethical conduct and long-term career success.

As always, I would like to hear any comment that any readers of this blog might have!

There are a few items to note in using the assessment, including:

• You must be a member of ARMA International.
• The assessment will open in a new browser window, so be sure your pop-up blocker is set to allow the connection.
• Log in using your email address and ARMA International member password. You will be taken to the RIM Self-Assessment to begin. Save your results any time by moving to the next page in the assessment. Your assessment will be saved and you can refer to it and your results at any time.

For more complete information on the Self Assessment Tool, see this link on the ARMA web site.  Then, get started in taking greater control over the progress of your career!

There are a few items that differentiate Global 360 from other firms.  First, the firm’s products span a wide range of audiences, from Imaging for Windows© for individual desk tops, through departmental and workgroup solutions, through to solutions that are designed to accommodate thousands of end-users, true enterprise-level systems.  Beyond the range of software solutions, Global 360 also provides outsourcing services to its customers.  Those outsourcing services focus on outsourced capture services and conversion services for paper-based, microfilm-based, and microfiche-based media.  To the best of my knowledge, Global 360 is the only large software provider that addresses both software and capture services for its clients. 

To answer the question about what I do for Global 360 is fairly easy within the context of the company’s offerings.  I am responsible for business development for our outsourcing services – translation: sales of those services.  I work with Global 360 customers and customers of other content management and process management providers as they seek to provide on-going outsourced capture services, backfile conversion services and/or media conversion services.  That role brings me into contact with many organizations that work to improve the efficiency in the way that they manage their records, and who seek to ensure that privacy rights of their employees and their customers or constituents is maintained.  I have had opportunities to be involved with medical/patient records conversion and capture work, opportunities to be involved with private sector records in sensitive areas like Human Resource records, and opportunities to work with those whose records include substantial personal identifying information in the government sector.  In each area, my firm works with clients whose volumes are high (millions of pages where digitization is needed), and whose needs include the protection of all of the personal identifying information contained within those records.

As a team member at Global 360, my background has served me well.  My prior employment and assignments have included everything from forms management, to micrographics systems, to records management, to enterprise content management and business process management.  That background has also included membership in a number of Associations like ARMA – where some might consider me to be over active, the ICRM, AIIM, and some specific industry-related groups. 

That’s a bit of a snapshot of both my company and of me from a business perspective.

My memory on the above topic goes back to the days of my college graduation.  One of the themes that I recall from my college graduation, in the last millennium, was that education was life long process and not one where a degree signified the end of learning.  Since I was not an outstanding student in those days, I recall that my reaction to hearing that was to hope that the graduation speaker in question was mistaken.  He wasn’t mistaken at all, and if anything, he underestimated what would be required of the graduating class of 1973.

Education and training have proven very important in my career and have made a significant difference to those who seek success in their careers in Records and Information Management.  Alan A. Andolsen, CMC, CRM, President of the Institute of Certified Records Managers made that point quite successfully to those who gathered for the ICRM Reception at the ARMA Conference in Baltimore.  He provided clear and convincing information about how those who had advanced degrees and those who had attained the status of CRM had prospered in recent years.  I recall being very impressed with the percentage of members of the ICRM who had earned advanced degrees.  Alan quite persuasively pointed to the link between education, training, certification and income during his presentation. 

Given Alan’s analysis, what should we as Records and Information Management Professionals do?  I would recommend that we do the following:

• Document your career goals

• Assess how well your education, training, certifications and experience match the competencies you need to demonstrate to move forward toward those career goals
• Develop your own education plan to fill the gaps
• Involve your employer to the extent that you can, and incorporate your plans into your development goals and performance objectives
• Periodically reassess where you are, reassess your competencies, and continue to fill the gaps created when new areas of knowledge become important to the profession

My own goals are often income based.  Your goals may have much more to do with the level of responsibility that you have within your organization, the growth and influence of your R.I.M. program, or the next job title that you hope to target.  Those goals are fundamental to the second step. 

The second step of assessment requires some measuring stick against which you can judge your progress to date.  Fortunately, ARMA International (http://www.arma.org/) has established a set of competencies now, and will soon have an assessment tool available for its members.  We will have something to measure ourselves against for the first time in the history of our profession.  Hopefully, many of us will be able to use that tool to enable us to better plan for our own professional development.

Once that assessment is complete, making progress will depend on where the gaps exist for each one of us.  ARMA will certainly focus attention on providing what education it can for its members, but members will need to determine their own educational priorities.  Since education is never “free”, each of us will likely need to involve our employers and to leverage their interest in our development.  Whether that education plan includes the pursuit of the CRM as the high level certification that it is, whether it includes the pursuit of a number of certificates offered by other associations, and whether it includes additional higher education, we will undoubtedly want to avail ourselves of any resources that may be available through our employers.

Documenting that education and training can be important – if not for your current position, for the next position you seek.  Documentation can be in the form of a degree, an advanced degree (e.g. MBA), or a certification, like the CRM, or CA, or CMC or PMP.  It can also incorporate specific certificates that individuals have attained in areas like Enterprise Content Management, Business Process Management, or other areas that provide value to an individual and to an employer.

 For those who embark on a path of improving their career path by continuing their education, by achieving certification in the field, my congratulations.  The only caveat that I have for any and for all of us is that continuing education is a necessity if we hope to advance in our careers; it is not a luxury.  Our field of endeavor is sufficiently broad that the advancement of technology, changes in our professional environment and changes in business practices and regulation will continue to challenge us all.