Hotlinks

100 Useful Links for Records Managers

Organisations

• Information and Records Management Society
• The National Archives, the UK government’s official archive, from Domesday Book to websites
• JISC InfoNet
• ARMA’s main web presence
• The Records and Information Management Professionals Australasia
• AIIM is a global community of information professionals
• Institute of Health Records & Information Management
• UK Council for Health Informatics Professions
• The International Federation of Health Information Management Associations (IFHIMA)
• UNESCO Archives Portal

Records Retention

• CIPD guide to the retention of HR records
• HE Business Classification Scheme and Records Retention Schedule
• A free generic retention schedule for UK records, and one for several European countries
• Managing Records Retention and Disposal – invaluable book from one of the leading experts in this field
• Generic records retention schedules for Scottish local authority functions

Standards and Guides

• ARMA’s generally accepted recordkeeping principles
• ISO – the International Organization for Standardization for international records management standards
• BSI for British records management standards
• NAA’s collection of Australian records management resources, including their standards
• Managing RM Rules
• TNA’s definitive guide to information management
• Records Management guidance from the UK National Archives
• Section 46 supporting guidance and implementation guides
• TNA Information Principles resource base and reference collection
• TNA “What to Keep” guidance
• TNA selection and disposition guidance
• TNA transfer guidance
• TNA Guidance on licensing and re-use of information
• All things related to MoReq in general, and MoReq2 in particular
• Why Records Management? by Priscilla Emery
• MoReq2010 downloads and other collateral
• 2011 Report -Legal Requirements for Document Management in Europe
• IG standards for systems and development of guidance for NHS and partner organisations
• Information Governance in NHS Scotland
• Metadata Universe Visualization (not limited to records management)

Digital Preservation

• Digital Continuity guidance from the UK National Archives (including the risk management self-assessment tool)
• A wealth of advice on digital preservation from the Digital Preservation Coalition
• – archived copy (2011) of the PADI : gateway to international digital preservation resources
• Legitimate free copies of ISO 14721, the Open Archives Information System (digital preservation standard) – old and current versions
• Guide to disaster recovery

Toolkits

• The IRMS Records Management Toolkit for Schools
• Mergers and Acquisitions – records integration toolkit
• Museuminfo – Resources to get started in a small (museum) environment including sample policies and procedures as well as training materials
• Guide to outsourcing records management
• JISC’s Impact Calculator
• Edinburg University – excellent examples of policies, procedures and practices
• G3C Toolkit – A range of pan-government guidance on Information Governance, SIRO’s, and the CRAIG Framework
• ESD-Toolkit – A framework of tried and tested tools, guidance and practical examples to support innovation in public service delivery and deliver’better for less’
• Dustin McLemore’s Research Report – the process of building a Records Management System in public agencies

Glossaries and other Link collections

• British Records Association – Glossary of Archival terms.
• InterPARES Terminology database – glossary, PDF version and comprehensive “dictionary”
• Famous, but now outdated US RM resource list created by Alan Zaben

Posters and Graphics:

• AIIM Record Management Posters and graphics (a log-in may be required to download)
• The ICO Think Privacy Poster Campaign
• Google’s Image Library – Search for “Records Management” and then click on the “Image” tab for some great RM images

Legislation and Compliance:

• Guide to risk management
• Useful for advice on HR records – put “Records” in search box
• Latest developments in law including cloud computing and information law
• Access to UK Health Records Act
• UK Data Protection Act
• The Information Commissioners Office – guidance and a range of free resources
• Records Management: NHS Code of Practice
• Acts of Parliament, including Data protection Act and Freedom of Information Act
• The UK Public Records Act
• Section 46 Code of Practice
• The Information Principles for the UK Public Sector
• Government Digital Services guidance on important issues for records and information managers
• A great resource for people starting to look into the issues of cloud storage
• Can I destroy the original documentation once it has been scanned?
• Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011
• The Scottish Information Commissioner’s Office
• – Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
• s61 Records Management Code of Practice (revised Dec. 2011) under Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act
• Information Compliance training Video

Lists and Blogs

• The RECORDS-MANAGEMENT-UK electronic mailing list archive
• RECMGMT-L List – the electronic mailing list (listserve) from the USA
• The National Archives blog (many subjects covered)
• AIIM ERM ‘expert’ blogs on electronic records management
• James Lappin’s Thinking Records blog
• New South Wales Gov records future proof blog
• “Lest we forget”, register of incidents highlighting the need for good recordkeeping
• Stephen Howard’s Archival Strategies blog
• Helen Hedden on information management taxonomies
• Essays in Information Governance (and more) from Barclay T. Blair
• Synercon’s back-to-basics approach to some fundamental information management challenges
• Managing Records in SharePoint
• Records Management Journal
• The ECM Maturity Model
• Museum-centric records management guides
• Cimtech’s annual guide to Information and Records Management products and services
• A comprehensive overview of Data Management

Useful Non-RM Tools for records managers

• Treesize – A powerful and flexible hard disk space manager for Windows
• Bulk Rename – A powerful Bulk File Rename Utility
• Mailchimp – Create, send, and track email newsletters
• Alfresco – Free collaboration site, with version control
• LinkedIn – A great business networking too – global contacts and several RM, EDRM groups etc
• Doodle – A free way of arranging those inevitable meetings involving busy attendees
• Hightail – a free way of sending files that are too large to fit into an email
• Survey Monkey – the best-known of the free web-based survey tools
• Skype – free international and video conferences
• The Internet Archive/wayback machine – an invaluable though frequently frustrating archive of the entire internet