Introduction to the project

Electronic records management (ERM) has been a significant issue for organisations for more than two decades. Despite guidelines, standards and software systems developed by national archives, coalitions, professional associations, research groups and commercial organisations the pace of change has been relatively slow (McDonald, 2005). The question is why?

This 3-year project, funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC), will try to understand issues and develop practical strategies to accelerate the pace of positive change in managing e-records. Its objectives are to:

· investigate the issues and problems of ERM
· develop a contemporary critical view of the state of ERM globally at both the research and practical levels
· challenge existing recordkeeping paradigms to develop an appropriate practical paradigm for ERM, and
· develop and share examples of ERM strategies, tactics and practice through a series of scenario-based vignettes and this blog.

It is being conducted in phases, beginning with a comprehensive systematic literature review and followed by an investigation of three facets of designing an organisation-centred architecture for ERM i.e people, processes and technology. Using a combination of e-Delphi studies and face-to-face colloquia in the UK, professionals and academics will be engaged from multiple disciplines (e.g. information, records and archives management, humanities, business management, medicine) and different stakeholder groups (i.e. senior managers, records professionals, IT/systems administrators and recordkeepers).

The aim is to involve around 250 participants, making it a significant study. Participants will share and learn about issues, approaches, successes and failures, and this blog will provide a vital global discussion forum and data collection tool for sharing and learning throughout the entire project.

A full-time PhD student, who is exploring risk management to identify how electronic records can be better managed within the context of risk, is also a member of the project team and responsible for maintaining the blog.

Project website http://northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/ceis/re/isrc/themes/rmarea/erm/


McDonald, J. (2005). The wild frontier ten years on. In: McLeod, J and Hare, CE (Eds). Managing electronic records. Facet, p.1-17.

Julie McLeod
Project Director