Information Management Journal articles from January 2008

Information Management Journal archives from January 2008

Public and private, sunshine and reign.(IN FOCUS: A Message from the Editors)
January 1, 2008... Something is amiss in the world of records and information: Too many public records are being kept in the dark, while too much private, personal data is being aired in sunlight. First of all, too many U.S. politicians are deleting...

U.K. police need data retention rules.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)
January 1, 2008... Four U.K. police forces have been ordered to delete decades-old criminal records from the national computer because they breach privacy laws and are no longer relevant, according to BBC News. The ruling came after four individuals...

Sony disk to store 500GB.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)(Sony Corp.)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... The data space race is heating up, after Sony's announcement that it is working on a seven-layer optical disk that will be capable of storing more than 500 gigabytes (GB) of data. The multi-layered holographic recording technology used by Sony...

Washington DOC settles e-records suit.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)(Department of Corrections)
January 1, 2008... Washington's Department of Corrections (DOC) agreed to pay $65,000 to settle a lawsuit over its refusal to disclose certain public records in electronic form, and it's just the latest payout for the agency over withholding records. The...

FDA records to go digital.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)(Food and Drug Administration )(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] About 20 million pages of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) documents and materials will be digitized, indexed, and consolidated as part of a five-year, $20-million contract awarded to Quality Associates Inc....

Securing Data 101.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] After two data breaches involving the records of more than 28,000 students, the University of Cincinnati (UC) is shoring up its electronic defenses. But it also needs to protect data stored in unlocked file cabinets...

U.K. seeks FOIA Company compliance.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)(Freedom of Information Act)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... The U.K. government wants its Freedom of Information Act (FOI) to cover private companies and contractors that "carry out functions of a public nature." In a November consultation paper, the state said that firms under contract with a...

Germany passes data retention law.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)
January 1, 2008... In November, Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, passed the German Data Retention Law. It incorporates the principles of the EU Data Retention Directive--mainly, the mandatory retention of all telecoms traffic data for law enforcement...

IM workplace use here to stay.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)(instant messaging)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... Instant messaging (IM) isn't just for kids anymore, and the sooner businesses come to grips with that fact, the better. IM has been around for several years, but its use in the workplace--authorized by the company or not--is expected to...

Firms not ready for EC directive.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)(European Commission )(Survey)
January 1, 2008... The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) aims to create a single European market for financial services, joining 27 member states of the European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. But many firms in those nations are...

Survey: lawsuits down, data-saving up.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)(Survey)
January 1, 2008... The recent Litigation Trends Survey from international law firm Fulbright & Jaworski LLP reveals that while internal investigations and lawsuits have dropped slightly, one-third of U.S. businesses still face at least 25 lawsuits, and 18 percent...

10 reasons to archive e-mail.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)
January 1, 2008... According to Osterman Research, employees now use e-mail as a "21st century filing cabinet in which they document their activities, store tiles and important communications, and conduct business." With this in mind, companies that back up...

Robot digitizes old books.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)(Bavarian State Library)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Munich's Bavarian State Library has employed a robot to help it make more books digitally available to any online reader. The "book drone" will scan around 37,000 works from the 16th century--7.5 million...

EU firms loath to give U.S. data.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)(European Union)
January 1, 2008... European companies that refuse to provide data that they fear could violate EU data protection laws could risk being thrown off U.S. stock exchanges, according to an article in European Voice. The problems were highlighted at a recent...

California data protection law vetoed.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)
January 1, 2008... California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently vetoed what would have been one of the nation's most stringent retail data breach security laws, saying he believed the bill would have resulted in higher compliance costs for small businesses. ...

More e-mail trouble for Morgan Stanley.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... Morgan Stanley continues to pay for withholding e-mails that it claimed were lost during 9/11. In late September 2007, the securities firm agreed to pay $12.5 million to settle charges that it lied to arbitration claimants and regulators,...

Report: Australia sliding into secrecy.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)
January 1, 2008... According to a major report, there is a growing culture of secrecy in Australia that is chipping away at press freedom and denying public access to critical information. The "Right to Know" report--produced by Irene Moss, former chair of...

Microsoft offers online health records.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)(www.healthvault.com)
January 1, 2008... Microsoft wants to help patients manage their own health care online. It is entering the consumer healthcare market and plans to offer free personal health records that can be accessed and managed online. Microsoft announced its HealthVault...

Backup data dogging businesses.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)(Survey)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... According to BridgeHead Software's Annual Information Lifecycle Management Audit, backup data in organizations is so voluminous that it is disrupting business by tying up systems, storage, and network capacity and consuming valuable IT...

World digital library moves ahead.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)
January 1, 2008... The Library of Congress and UNESCO plan to move ahead with the World Library project, which is currently in testing phase and will not be available to the public until later this year or early 2009. Librarian of Congress James H. Billington...

Government records: it's the message, not the medium: governments--well, some anyway--are starting to figure out what records managers have known all along: Information pertaining to business is a record, whether it was created on or delivered to an office computer or a staff member's personal PDA.(ON THE EDGE: The Use & Misuse of Information)
January 1, 2008... Today, records can take almost any form--from written text on paper to an electronic text message. Courts have determined that what makes a record a record all depends on what's in the message itself, not on what media it was created or how it...

The importance of architecture in ERM software selection: here are five elements that can help organizations establish well-defined and robust management of all content.
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When considering electronic records management (ERM) software products, records managers tend to focus on their functionality. However, all ERM products perform approximately the same functions. Their true...

Breaking for legal holds: how to read the signals: seven scenarios offer examples of events that signal the need to stop disposition of records in anticipation of litigation.
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Since the revised Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) took effect on December 1, 2006, companies have been struggling to understand litigation, or legal, holds. As evidenced by the extensive downloading of ARMA...

Wellsprings of change for RIM: six emerging trends affecting information and records management offer challenges and opportunities for RIM professionals.
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] RIM (records and information management) professionals work in programs that are constantly affected by change--in workforce demographics; technology; the legal, regulatory, and competitive environments; use of...

Bad bosses and how not to be one: all workplaces would run smoothly if all bosses learned to live by the Golden Rule of Management: manage as you would like to be managed.(Management Wise)
January 1, 2008... There is worldwide evidence that a nation's management talent is one of the most important factors in the growth and survival of its economy and society. Also, it is equally evident that people in managerial positions face a variety of...

Minimizing risks through a corporate information compliance-initiative: corporate governance programs for information management are a crucial risk-management investment for organizations.(Business Matters)(Company overview)
January 1, 2008... The Enron scandal that involved shredding of documents in anticipation of a government investigation and the subsequent passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX)--which makes corporate executives accountable for certifying the accuracy of...