1.5 PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENT, RECORDS, AND RESOURCES IN THE ORGANIZATION IMT 530: Organization of Information and Resources
1.5.0.1 IN-CLASS EXERCISE
1.5.0.1 In-Class Exercise A document is a recorded message on some medium [3], these media can take many forms and they have attributes A record is recorded information produced or received in the initiation, conduct or completion of an institutional or individual activity and that comprises content, context and structure sufficient to provide evidence of the activity [2] A publication is recorded information that is intended for communication and/or dissemination to the public at large [4]
1.5.0.1 In-Class Exercise Break into groups Analyze photocopies of documents you have before you First identify them as either records or publications Then follow the directions on the assignment page for Assignment 1, the in-class project.j You have 20 minutes
1.5 PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENT, RECORDS, AND RESOURCES IN THE ORGANIZATION IMT 530: Organization of Information and Resources
Outline Flow of Information in the Organization Documents Records Publications Resources
1.5.1 FLOW OF INFORMATION IN THE ORGANIZATION Davenport and Weinberger
1.5.1 Flow of Information Davenport [1] identifies four steps in managing information processes: Determine Requirements Capture Distribute Use
1.5.1 Information Flow Categorizing Information Davenport also addresses the act of categorizing information: What business function will be supported by the categorization system? What individual information behavior will be optimized by the categorization system? Can the organization use an existing scheme (for free or for fee)? How can the categorization system be maintained over time?
1.5.1 Information Flow These concerns come together when we build systems that account for the attributes of documents in our organization Determine Requirements: what attributes are important for business functions, information behavior? Capturing Information: what attributes do we need to capture? Which attributes can we assign automatically? What can be derived for a pre-existing scheme? Distribute Information: what attributes help in the dissemination of information, based on business functions and information behavior? Use of Information: what attributes are actually used by information workers?
1.5.1 Flow of Information For records we need to see four stages of the Lifecycle of records Creation Active Use Semi-Active Use Final Outcome (preservation or deletion) We ll see this in more detail later. Right now, keep in mind that some information is organized so that it can be destroyed when it needs to be
1.5.2 DOCUMENTS Hjørland and FRBR
1.5.2 Documents A document is a recorded message on some medium [3], these media can take many forms and they have attributes We want to understand the forms so we can handle the documents in the appropriate way, and look for the appropriate attributes (based on information flow mentioned above).
1.5.2 Documents Forms of Documents Tablets Leaves Scrolls Codices (Codex) Microform (microfilm, micro opaque, microfiche) Electronic Documents Images (pictures, art)
1.5.2 Documents Media Clay Stone Wood Bamboo Papyrus Skin (Parchment, Vellum) Paper Digital Displays
1.5.2 Documents However, what constitutes a document changes with a change in context AND a change in use (or proposed use) One man s antelope is another woman s document This is because the antelope has been given attributes that inform and help in someone s information flow (say for example the antelope in a natural history museum or a zoo). This is Suzanne Briet s understanding of document [5]
1.5.2 Documents The difference can be more subtle, as that difference between records and publications or even different types of records
1.5.3 RECORDS Records Lifecycle and Records Management
1.5.3 Records What Is A Record? record is, "recorded information produced or received in the initiation, conduct or completion of an institutional or individual activity and that comprises content, context and structure sufficient to provide evidence of the activity". The International Council on Archives [7] goes some way to addressing these short-comings by stressing three key properties inherent in all records, that is that they must possess: [6]
1.5.3 Records Properties of records: Content (i.e. information or data) Context (i.e. it must be possible to ascertain how it relates to other records and to the organisation which created it) Structure (i.e. there must be an inherent logic to the way in which the information it contains - and the metadata which is likely to define its context - are laid out and which is ultimately interpretable by the human eye) [6]
1.5.3 Records The result of adhering to these properties should be to create records which contain the following qualities: Authenticity. It should be possible to identify, and preferably prove, the process which created the record and who its authorised [sic] creator was. Completeness. The record should contain all of the content required to act as evidence of the transaction it is documenting. This does not mean that one record must contain everything to which it relates; simply that it is complete in its own terms. Reliability. It is important that the content of the record can be relied upon as an accurate representation of the transaction it is documenting. Fixity. Once declared as a record its content should no longer be altered or changed in any way. It is in this way that its evidential value is preserved (by ensuring that the content of a record remains exactly as it was at creation). [6]
1.5.3 Records Legal Financial Charters, insurance certificates, deeds etc Accounts, payroll, pensions etc Operational Timetables, exam papers, student records Commercial Contracts, memoranda of understanding etc Intellectual capital Research data Disaster recovery Out of hours staff contact details, estate plans, utility and emergency service contact details [
1.5.3 Records In order to accommodate the form and attributes of these, we have to deal with them in a very specific way when we describe and organize them. We will talk about what metadata we need to do this later in the term
1.5.4 PUBLICATIONS What s left after we take away records
1.5.4 Publications Documents left over after we ve separated out the records
1.5.5 RESOURCES Everything is a Resource in the digital world
1.5.5 Resources With the advent of the World Wide Web, we found it possible and in some cases desirable to identify both digital (or virtual) things and real things The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendations groups call both of these things by the same name: resources
1.5.5 Resources The first explicit definition of resource is found in RFC 2396, in August 1998 : A resource can be anything that has identity. Familiar examples include an electronic document, an image, a service (e.g., "today's weather report for Los Angeles"), and a collection of other resources. Not all resources are network "retrievable"; e.g., human beings, corporations, and bound books in a library can also be considered resources. [8]
1.5.5 Resources In January 2005, RFC 3986 makes this extension of the definition completely explicit:... abstract concepts can be resources, such as the operators and operands of a mathematical equation, the types of a relationship (e.g., "parent" or "employee"), or numeric values (e.g., zero, one, and infinity). [8]
1.5.5 Resources This conception is used not only by W3C recommendations, but other standards bodies like the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative This informs the work of how we describe and organize information on the web and web-like platforms (say intranets)
1.5.5 Resources Resources (Resource Description and Resource Discovery) The more we work with web documents, the more we begin to break down documents into their component parts, moving away from Wilson's idea of bibliographic objects and moving more toward his conception of information units. Of course, whether this is wise, or not, remains to be seen. However it is the trend to see developers and researchers discuss Resources and their accompanying jobs: Resource Description and Resource Discovery.
1.5.5 Resources Resource Discovery is a term floated at the first Dublin Core conference in Dublin, Ohio, 1995, to describe information retrieval and information access in the Internet and the World Wide Web. Since the Internet was and is an open system, there could be very limited control over the files (and subsequently resources) available. Resource Description is a term employed in the context of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and their recommendation for metadata. It moves beyond bibliographic metadata to describe people, events, etc., anything that can be addressable is a resource that can be described.
References 1. Davenport, T. (1997). Information Management Processes In Information Ecology. (New York: Oxford University Press):134-155. 2. International Council on Archives. http://www.ica.org/en/node/30019 3. Hjorland, B. (1997). Information seeking and subject representation : an activity-theoretical approach to information science. (Westport, CT: Greenwood). 4. InterPARES Terminology Database. Available: http://www.interpares.org/ip2/ip2_terminology_db.cfm 5. Briet, Suzanne. (1951/2006). Qu'est-ce que la documentation? Paris: Éditions documentaires, industrielles et techniques, 1951. Translated and edited by Ronald E. Day and Laurent Martinet with Hermina G. B. Anghelescu as Suzanne Briet s What Is Documentation? Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2006. 6. What is a record? Available: http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/recordsmanagement/creation/what-is-a-record 7. International Council on Archives. http://www.ica.org/en/node/30019 8. Resources. Wikipedia. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/resource_(web) 9. JISC. Records Management. Available: http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/recordsmanagement/records-management.pdf