Beyond Best Practices

Beyond Best Practices
November 18, 2015
Mayflower Hotel
David Brown, Senior Archivist, Securities & Exchange Commission

This talk was really aimed at Records Management within an organization but it can also be applied to Library services.

 

Know your organization:

•  Environment
• Culture
• Situation
• Perspective
• Perseverance

Keep in mind that others aren’t always testing you – they just have a different perspective and viewpoint.

Know where your RM Program fits within your organization:

• Duties/responsibilities
• Metrics/Reporting
• Customer view

Don’t let Records/Archive be a black hole where things disappear and can never be found again.

Know where you want to go!

• Ensure coordination, buy-in, and communication
• Be an instrumental asset in achieving compliance and risk mitigation
• Integrate into the information technology structure

Have a Plan

• Be transparent
• Be accountable
• Be opportunistic
• Be transformative

Beyond Best Practices:

• Provide clear, concise and decisive guidance and directives.

o   Establish expertise

o   Encourage discourse and reliance

·         

•  Have a strategic plan

o   Demonstrate program accountability

o   Exemplify transparency

• Get baked-in

o   Get involved beyond the system development life-cycle

Records Managers don’t have a mission agenda.  We’re there to help the constituents.

Conduct organizational assessments.

Leverage relationships and expertise to achieve change and improve information sharing

Give answers – not options.  If you’re wrong, admit your mistake.  Be transparent and show your work.

Communicate your success.  At the SEC they would report on how many FOIA requests they received – not on how many they fulfilled.

Match your plans with opportunities

Expertise doesn’t expire.