Final AC+erm Colloquium – Witness Seminar

Last Thursday (5th March), we held the last in our series of project colloquia as a Witness Seminar called Transforming Information & Records Management through Research & Development. A group of 50 delegates and witnesses discussed and debated the links and synergies, actual and desired, between research and practice in the field of Records and Information Management.

The event was structured around three sessions – two seminars led by panels of expert ‘witnesses’, and a forum for general discussion. Witnesses for the first seminar panel were drawn from the academic world, and for the second, from the practitioner world; each panel was introduced by chairs from the ‘opposite’ arena. After the witnesses delivered their statements in each seminar, the discussion was opened to delegates. The final session was devoted purely to discussion and thought about future directions of research in recordkeeping.

The constitution of the panels was as follows:

Seminar 1 – The transforming capacity of research & development: Academic perspectives
Chair: Adrian Cunningham
Witnesses: Steve Bailey; Sue Childs; Elizabeth Lomas; Dr Alison Pickard

Seminar 2 – The transforming capacity of research & development: Practitioner perspectives
Chair: Catherine Hare
Witnesses: Dr David Bowen; Chris Campbell; Maria Luisa Di Biagio; Paul Dodgson; John McDonald; Andrew Snowden

Discussion
Chair: Prof Michael Moss

While we were very fortunate to have such eminent academics and practitioners to lead the event, the Witness Seminar format – with its emphasis on discussion as well as ‘talking heads’ – meant that a considerable portion of the colloquium’s success arose from the contributions made by all the delegates attending. And debate was not necessarily along stereotypical fault-lines – at one stage, an academic urging the need for a more practical orientation was followed by a practitioner stressing the value of intellectual frameworks in which to situate their practice.

We are in the process of preparing the formal proceedings of the colloquium for publication; in the meanwhile, we have now posted the speaker biographies and Witness Statements to our website. Access to the document is via the following link: http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/static/5007/ceispdf/statements.pdf

The audio files of the chairs’ and witnesses’ speeches will shortly be added to the website, and we are also in the process of producing transcripts of the discussions, which will be included in the published proceedings.

Witness Seminar: Transforming Information & Records Management through Research & Development

12:00–18:00, 4 March 2010, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne

The fourth and final AC+erm colloquium will take the form of a Witness Seminar, to be held on ‘home turf’ in the Great Hall of Northumbria University’s newly refurbished Sutherland Building.

Building on the success of previous witness seminars this free half-day seminar focuses on the results of the AC+erm e-records management project in the broader context of research and development in information management. It provides a rare opportunity for anyone interested and/or involved in research and development or improving their organisation’s management of information and records to listen to, learn from, actively discuss and network with a range of experts and other delegates.

You are invited to join a group of UK and international information and records management, IT and information systems academics and practitioners, and engage in a critical examination of the value and nature of research and development for the information management profession.

Speakers include Steve Bailey, David Bowen, Chris Campbell, Adrian Cunningham, Paul Dodgson, Catherine Hare, John McDonald, Michael Moss, Stuart Orr and Andrew Snowden.

Delegates can contribute their own knowledge, experience, views and desires to the discussion and debate to influence the direction of future research. Posters, presentations, and other materials and tools related to the findings of the AC+erm Project and other projects conducted by Northumbria University’s Information Management Innovation (IMI) Research Group will be available to view and use.

The registration form and programme details are available at http://acerm-colloquium.eventbrite.com/

Details are also available on the AC+erm Project website at http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/ceis/re/isrc/themes/rmarea/erm/coll/coll4/

Information on previous Witness Seminars can be found at http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/ceis/re/isrc/conf/wit06/ (2006) and http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/ceis/re/isrc/conf/wit07/ (2007).

Organised by the School of Computing, Engineering & Information Sciences at Northumbria University, funded as part of the AHRC AC+erm Project (www.northumbria.ac.uk/acerm) and sponsored by Emerald Publishing (www.emeraldinsight.com/rmj.htm).

A Vision for ERM? Third AC+erm colloquium – Outputs

We have just posted some outputs from the third colloquium for the AC+erm Project to our website.

We would welcome any comments you may wish to make on these outputs or on any other aspect of the colloquia or the project as a whole.

http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/ceis/re/isrc/themes/rmarea/erm/diss/coll_diss/coll3_diss/

The third AC+erm colloquium focused on the ‘Systems and Technology’ facet of the project and was held on 24 September in the Merchants’ Hall in Edinburgh. Just under 30 delegates attended, adding to and extending the data from the e-Delphi data in a series of discussion forums.

The outputs from the colloquium consist of versions of the initial documents presented to the delegates, adapted to include their collated notes together with notes taken by the project team.

During the workshop, delegates also developed their ideas graphically; the outputs include images of these items.

The slides accompanying the project team’s presentations are also provided.

Forum 1
Delegates were asked to consider and comment on the full list of issues from the Systematic Literature Review and Systems and technology e-Delphi study, to add any issues they thought were missing, and to make any further comments or notes for discussion that they felt necessary.

Forum 2
Delegates examined proposed solutions to ‘Approaches to e-records management’, one of the five issues selected for further exploration in the colloquium.

Each group was allocated a single issue for discussion. Firstly, each delegate in the group completed a questionnaire (based on that used in Round 4 of the Systems and technology Delphi Study) in respect of one of the eight proposed solutions to the issue.

All delegates in the group then discussed the issue, electing one of their number as rapporteur to take notes and feed back briefly at the end of the discussion

Workshop
Delegates were divided into four groups, each of which was invited to draft a vision for e-records management.

The workshop activities were conducted using draft tools (vignettes) developed by the Project. The vignettes used were of three types—‘fridge phrases’, rich pictures, and narrative.

Each group as a whole drafted a vision for ERM. The whole group used the ‘Fridge Phrases’ tool to develop the vision and / or to articulate it more fully. They then went on to communicate the vision through rich pictures, narrative, or both.

The groups reported back their thoughts not only on the topic itself but also on the usefulness or otherwise of the vignettes as tools in this context.

Third AC+erm Colloquium – Tackling the Technology Issues Together

Project Colloquium

24 September 2009

The Merchants’ Hall, Edinburgh

22 Hanover Street, Edinburgh EH2 2EP

"RM is something that should be done not something that can be bought and installed."
(Participant in AC+erm e-Delphi Study)

This free event shares the latest results of our major evidence-based research project taking a strategic approach to accelerating positive change in electronic records management. Discover what you can adopt from the experience of different stakeholders in different disciplines, sectors and countries. Compare your approach and contribute your knowledge and experience to the findings. Try out some of the 'tools' being developed in the project and share your views.

The colloquium provides a chance for you to learn, influence, share, benchmark and contribute to the challenge of positive change in managing our e-information assets by taking part in discussion forums and a workshop. Take away fresh insights and benefit from trans-disciplinary and cross-sectoral perspectives and expertise.

The discussions of solutions to technological issues will focus on five selected topics:

• Approaches to e-Records Management (ERM) (e.g. stand-alone EDRMS, embedding RM in line of business systems etc.)
• Trade-offs in ERM implementation
• Technical aspects of ERM (e.g. compatibility, customisation, usability)
• Automation of records management processes
• Cloud computing and ERM

For full details, agenda and Registration Form, click on the link below.

http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/ceis/re/isrc/themes/rmarea/erm/coll/coll3/

Second AC+erm colloquium – Outputs

We are pleased to finally be in a position to post some outputs from the second colloquium for the AC+erm Project to our website. We would welcome any comments you may wish to make on these outputs or on any other aspect of the colloquia or the project as a whole.

http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/ceis/re/isrc/themes/rmarea/erm/diss/coll_diss/coll2_diss/

This event focused on the ‘Process’ facet of the project and was held on 26 March in the REP conference centre in at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Over 30 delegates attended, adding to and extending the data from the e-Delphi data in a series of discussion forums.

Forum 1—Delegates were asked to consider and comment on the full list of issues from the SLR and Process e-Delphi study, and to add any issues they felt were missing.

Forum 2—Delegates were divided into six groups; each group was allocated a single issue for discussion and asked to comment on the solutions that had been proposed through the e-Delphi study.

Workshop—The delegate groups were asked to evaluate and comment on three draft vignettes/tools based on the solutions offered in the e-Delphi study.

The first was ‘Fridge Frases’ or ‘Fridge Phrases’, where words and phrases are available in the style of ‘fridge magnets’ to form issues and ideas for training sessions, brainstorming, etc.

The second took the form of ‘rich pictures’ – issues or problems are encapsulated and explored through pictorial representations, in a flexible and non-linear manner.

The final type of tool was a story – issues or problems are presented through a ‘personalised’ narrative, from a particular perspective (in this case, of a systems user).

In each session, the delegates were asked to make notes and/or appoint a rapporteur to report back from the discussion; the initial issues/solutions list plus the collated notes of the rapporteurs and individual delegates form the outputs from the colloquium.

Second AC+erm colloquium

The second colloquium for the AC+erm Project—focusing on the ‘Process’ facet of the project—was held on 26 March, in the REP conference centre in at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Over 30 delegates attended, adding to and extending the data from the e-Delphi data in a series of discussion forums (http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/ceis/re/isrc/themes/rmarea/erm/coll/coll2/)
Forum 1—Delegates were asked to consider and comment on the full list of issues from the Systematic Literature Review and Process e-Delphi study, and to add any issues they felt were missing.

Forum 2—Delegates were divided into six groups; each group was allocated a single issue for discussion and asked to comment on the solutions that had been proposed through the e-Delphi study.

Workshop—Delegates were asked to evaluate and comment on three draft vignettes/tools based on the solutions offered in the e-Delphi study.

In each forum, the delegates were asked to make notes and/or appoint a rapporteur to report back from the discussion; the initial issues/solutions list plus the collated notes of the rapporteurs and individual delegates form the outputs from the colloquium.

The comments and evaluations supplied by the delegates are currently being collated and written up, and will be made available through the Project website as soon as possible.Feel free to comment on the colloquium or on any aspect of the AC+erm project—the more feedback we get, the more we are able to ensure that the project reflects the living as well as the ideal aspects of e-records and e-recordkeeping.

Second AC+erm Colloquium – Tackling the Process Issues Together

26 March 2009

Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Birmingham
REP Conference and Banqueting Centre (Victoria Suite)
Centenary Square, Broad Street, Birmingham, B1 2EP

The majority of eDRMS implementations I have seen to date are marvellous examples of tail wagging the dog – the creation of systems of control that service a few RM people in the organisation and ignore the business usability for everyone else – this is simply not sustainable. (Participant in AC+erm e-Delphi Study)

This free event shares the latest results of a major evidence-based research project taking a strategic approach to accelerating positive change in electronic records management. Discover what you can adopt from the experience of different stakeholders in different disciplines, sectors and countries. Compare your approach and contribute your knowledge and experience to the findings. Try out some of the tools being developed in the project and share your views.


The colloquium provides a chance for you to learn, influence, share, benchmark and contribute to the challenge of positive change in managing our e-information assets by taking part in discussion forums and a workshop. Take away fresh insights and benefit from trans-disciplinary and cross-sectoral perspectives and expertise.


For full details, agenda and Registration Form, click on the title of this post.