http://www.sajim.co.za/vol2.nr1.01_07_2000/training.main.asp?pr


   
  Training Vol.2(1) June 2000

Paradigm shift for records management 
Prof Adeline du Toit 
asadt@lw.rau.ac.za 

Over the past few years records management has evolved from a paper-based function 
responsible for the storage of an enterprise's miscellaneous documents into one concerned 
with the management of specified internal records in a multitude of media. Given that an 
enterprise's records are unique to it, they need to be managed explicitly, just as the enterprise 
would manage its other resources, namely its people, money and estate. The service provided 
by records management is vital to an enterprise, and to every information-using employee in 
it. By helping the users to do their jobs better and more easily, the records manager serves 
the company. Enterprises therefore realize that they should appoint a qualified records 
manager. Records managers are concerned about controlling the internal records of an 
enterprise during its active and inactive stages of the life cycle, evaluating the administrative, 
legal and fiscal values of the records. 

The University of Northumbria at Newcastle in Britain offers a MA/MSc degree in Records 
Management. The duration of the course is two years and students can study by distance 
learning in their own country. The course provides people working in the field of records 
management with the opportunity to gain a specialist qualification, which will help to 
consolidate their current position and standing as well as prepare for future career 
development into more senior roles. The course leader of this degree is Catherine Hare, 
editor of the Records Management Journal, published by Aslib. 

Learning is supported by the provision of teaching materials, both paper based and 
electronic, by both individual and group tutor support, using a range of technologies, and 
through establishment of a student learner network. There is a compulsory five day 
residential school at the beginning of each year in January.  

The aim of the course is to study records management in relation to the needs of all types of 
enterprises, irrespective of the medium of the records, and to relate to the theory and practice 
of managing an enterprise's records. The entry requirement is a first degree from a UK 
university or its equivalent. Students are expected to have access to external e-mail and the 
Internet.  

The course comprises ten units: 

Interpersonal skills for records management: skills required by records managers  
Records management in the enterprise: managing records as an organizational asset  
Strategic approach to management for records management: applying current 
management theories to managing proprietary information  
Introduction to information storage and retrieval: principles and practice of 
information storage and retrieval including the selection and evaluation of information 
systems  



Life cycle approach to records management: managing records from creation to final 
disposition  
Managing active records: managing records from the point of creation and throughout 
their active life  
Managing non-current records: managing records no longer in current use including 
destruction, archival appraisal and media conversion  
Archive and archives management: managing archives with due regard to conservation 
and preservation  
Records management in an electronic environment: challenges and approaches to 
managing records in an electronic environment  
Research methods for records management: applying research methods within the 
context of records management.  

Students also complete a dissertation on an approved topic of limited scope. 

For further information, contact Catherine Hare (catherine.hare@unn.ac.uk). 

  

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ISSN 1560-683

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