Information Management Journal articles from July 2008

Information Management Journal archives from July 2008

Toward more picturesque 'RIM speak'.(IN FOCUS: A Message from the Editors)(records and information management)
July 1, 2008... Like records and information management (RIM) professionals, magazine editors constantly look both forward and backward in time, planning for future projects and leveraging what has been learned from past ones--all the while keeping a pulse on...

GAO finds holes in e-mail habits.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)(United States. Government Accountability Office)
July 1, 2008... According to a report released in April by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), large gaps exist in key agencies' e-mail management and storage policies. "Preliminary results of GAO's review of e-mail records management at four...

What does SOX cost small firms?(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)(Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002)(Survey)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... A survey by Lord & Benoit found that the average costs for first-year compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) 404 provisions is $78,474 for small firms (those with market capitalization less than $75 million), CFO Magazine reported.

Data lost in rush to close libraries.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)
July 1, 2008... Facing massive budget cuts, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2006 decided to close some of its physical research libraries and make the data available online instead. However, in its haste to do so, the EPA may have lost some files,...

U.K. puts parliament proceedings online.(UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis)(http://hansard.millbanksystems.com)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... The U.K. Parliament has launched a pilot project to make 200 years of Parliament proceedings available online, according to European ePractice Newsletter. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The U.K. Parliament is planning to make all the official...

Okla. court rescinds records rule.(UP FRONT)(Oklahoma. Supreme Court)
July 1, 2008... Despite privacy and identity theft concerns, the Oklahoma Supreme Court has rescinded a controversial rule closing many online court records and redacting information from court files. According to Tulsa World, the rule, which would have...

German court narrows data retention rules.(UP FRONT)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Germany's highest court has revised the country's recently passed data retention directive targeting Internet service providers (ISPs) and telecom companies. Calling the law "potentially intimidating," the Federal Constitutional Court ruled...

Media sue N.C. governor over e-mails.(UP FRONT)
July 1, 2008... North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley and his administration have been sued by more than 10 media groups, including the Associated Press (AP), for the "systematic deletion, destruction, or concealment" of e-mail messages. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

New NHPRC director named.(UP FRONT)(appointment of Kathleen M. Williams in United States. National Historical Publications and Records Commission)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Archivist of the United States and National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) Chairman Allen Weinstein recently announced the appointment of Kathleen M. Williams as executive director of the NHPRC. Williams, who has served...

Indonesia passes new FOI law.(UP FRONT)
July 1, 2008... While Indonesia has one of the freest presses in the region, its citizens have not always enjoyed freedom of information (FOI). But that is expected to change with the passage of a new FOI law that will require Indonesian bureaucratic...

Australian Museum starts e-mail archive.(UP FRONT)(Powerhouse Museum)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Sydney, Australia's Powerhouse Museum is asking Australians to send it e-mails to be part of the country's first e-mail archive collection, according to ABC Online--Australia. The museum hopes the collection will serve as a sort of time...

B.C. law secures e-Health records.(UP FRONT)(British Columbia)(e-Health Personal Health and Information Access and Protection of Privacy Act)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] British Columbia recently became the first Canadian province to create a legislative framework with specific provisions to govern the access and protection of electronic health information, paving the way for...

Vietnam Memorial now online.(UP FRONT)(United States. National Archives and Records Administration)(www.footnote.com)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... The National Archives has joined with www.footnote.com to recreate the Vietnam Veterans Memorial online. The project makes the records of tens of thousands of deceased Vietnam War veterans available online for the first time. The...

Group urges copyright law changes.(UP FRONT)(Section 108 Study Group)
July 1, 2008... After almost three years of research, the independent Section 108 Study Group has issued recommendations to the U.S. Library of Congress related to how libraries, archives, and museums handle copyrighted materials in the digital environment....

India to increase cell phone monitoring.(UP FRONT)(Technology Act of 2000)(Centre for Communication Security Research and Monitoring)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... India's government said it will establish a Centre for Communication Security Research and Monitoring to help security agencies monitor cell phone calls and billing records. The center also will store copies of select call data records (CDRs)...

Digital data storage for the long run.(UP FRONT)
July 1, 2008... Long-term storage and recovery of digital information is something that everyone--from governments and businesses to home computer users--is struggling with today. Even as more and more information goes digital, there is currently no sure-fire...

NARA, CIA sign MOU.(UP FRONT)(United States. National Archives and Records Administration)(United States. Central Intelligence Agency)(memorandum of understanding)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) detailing the procedures and conditions that govern the treatment of...

FTC settles with TJX, data brokers.(UP FRONT)(United States. Federal Trade Commission)
July 1, 2008... Retailer TJX and data brokers Reed Elsevier and Seisint have agreed to settle charges with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that each engaged in practices that failed to provide reasonable and appropriate security for sensitive consumer...

Auditors: NASA needs e-mail lessons.(UP FRONT)(United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration)
July 1, 2008... According to a recent inspector general report, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) employees are not properly managing their official e-mail records due to a lack of knowledge and training. Auditors said that NASA's...

FTC offers data protection tips.(UP FRONT)(United States. Federal Trade Commission)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), many data theft incidents can be prevented by common-sense steps that cost companies next to nothing. To prove its point, the commission has published Protecting Personal Information: A...

EU panel: delete search info sooner.(UP FRONT)(European Union)
July 1, 2008... A European advisory body has determined that there is no reason for search engines to retain search information for longer than six months. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Article 29 Working Party, whose recommendations are usually adopted...

U.S. agencies' FOIA backlogs remain.(UP FRONT)(Freedom of Information Act)
July 1, 2008... Two years after President George W. Bush signed an executive order meant to improve Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) compliance and reduce backlogs of pending requests, a new audit reveals that progress has been slow. The Knight Open...

Service enables self-destructing IMs.(UP FRONT)(instant messages)(Survey)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... BigString Corp's new service enables users to send instant messages (IMs) that self-destruct after being sent, preventing them from being stored or archived to a server. Additionally, IMs sent via BigString's service cannot be copied,...

Report: U.S. mismanaging e-records.(UP FRONT)(electronic records)(Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington)
July 1, 2008... Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), one of the groups that has sued the White House over millions of "lost" e-mails, recently released a report--"Record Chaos: The Deplorable State of Electronic Record Keeping in the...

Revising DoD 5015.2, the de facto RM software standard: the latest revision of DoD 5015.2-STD now includes requirements for records management application (RMA)-to-RMA interoperability.(ON THE EDGE: The Use & Misuse of Information)
July 1, 2008... In 1997, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) developed a voluntary records management standard--DoD 5015.2-STD Design Criteria Standard for Electronic Records Management Software Applications--as a requirement for records management...

How to win the compliance battle using 'big buckets': despite verbal skirmishing about how big retention schedule "buckets" should be, RIM professionals agree that reducing the number of records series buckets can help organizations win the battle to increase user accuracy and compliance and reduce costs and risks.(United States. National Archives and Records Administration)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A retention schedule is a formal policy defining an organization's legal, regulatory, and business requirements for records retention and destruction. Applying the big bucket approach when developing or updating...

The art of managing RIM programs: the successful RIM program manager must have a well-developed set of inter-personal and professional talents, including the ability to perform 10 critical tasks for successful program management identified here.
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Records and information management (RIM) professionals' work focuses predominantly on managing records and information, but to accomplish that requires well-managed RIM programs. Ultimately, management's...

Calming the data storm: a risk management model for mitigating risks: using a risk-based approach for prioritizing efforts to mitigate the greatest information risks is a smart way to alleviate the common problems of limited staff, time, and budget.
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Records management has become an integral aspect of how most large organizations do business--in fact, it's increasingly taking center stage. While many organizations have implemented or are in the process of...

Six steps to your successful career path: from self-assessment to decision making to life planning, these steps will help guide the RIM professional to success.(CareerPath)(records and information management)
July 1, 2008... Over the past two decades, records and information management (RIM) practitioners have begun to enjoy the ability to create a structured career path. No longer are they solely relegated to dark, dusty file rooms. They are now emerging as...

MoReq2: the new model for developing, procuring electronic records management systems: the 2008 version of Model Requirements for the Management of Electronic Records (MoReq2) features new testability, governance, structural innovation, and expanded content.(Setting Standards)(european model requirements)
July 1, 2008... Most records and information management professionals are familiar with the European Model Requirements for the Management of Electronic Records, commonly referred to as MoReq. Much like the U. S. Department of Defense's DoD 5015.02-STD...