Anne Cornish MRIM is General Manager of the Records and Information Management Professionals Australasia.
RIMPA is a peak industry body for records and information managers in Australia. Some of you may be thinking…either “what exactly is that?” or “that doesn’t sound sexy!”
Records and records managers are essential to the way businesses conduct their operations; from the sole owner of the local newsagency through to government departments and large global companies. However, as with our digital preservation colleagues, records managers often receive very little exposure or recognition.
Organisations are quick to engage an accountant to manage their finances and an IT guru to manage their operating systems or an engineer to design a brand-new road. But the value of an organisation’s information assets can be overlooked or could be done by anyone.
Organisations provide accountants with the records they need to pay and collect monies; the IT guru refers to manuals and configuration documents in order to maintain the systems and the engineer uses plans to understand where the pipelines are when building roads. All of these functions rely on effective records management to realise the value of information assets.
RIMPA is working hard to enhance the profile of the records and information management industry, with plans to increase industry recognition. Strategies being considered include:
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Having the job role of records or information manager officially recognised. (So that when you fill out a form and there is a drop-down list of industries and roles; records and information managers will be there!)
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Changing role names to better reflect the value of the role, as our data management cousins have done. Using terms such as chief, scientist or architects affords a more accurate status for the profession; encouraging pre-university students to consider this invaluable professional as a long-term career.
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Creating value propositions so that the profession is recognised the same way as the accountant, IT guru and engineer.
Furthermore, we are keen to collaborate with other industry organisations like the DPC and its members to promote the value of digital information and we welcome any interest in this approach.
We hope that by working together, we will be able to bring about change and make a positive impact.
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