The Indiana University electronic records project revisited

American Archivist

Volumn 62, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 153-163

  Bantin, Philip C ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0040706537     PISSN: 03609081     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.17723/aarc.62.1.b605px88t6245j14     Document Type: Article

References (15)

1. Philip C. Bantin, "Developing a Strategy for Managing Electronic Records-The Findings of the Indiana University Electronic Records Project," American Archivist 61 (Fall 1998): 328-64.
2. Jeffrey L. Whitten andLonnie D. Bentley, Systems Analysis and Design Methods, 4"' ed. (Boston: McGraw- Hill, 1998), 8;
3. all subsequent citations are to this edition unless otherwise noted. The other major type of systems-related analysis is known is systems design, which is "the specification or construction of a technical, computer-based solution for the business requirements identified in a system analysis." Whitten and Bentley, Systems Analysis and Design Methods, 7. Clearly, the work of archivists has much more in common with systems analysts than systems designers.
4. For descriptions of this technique see Tom DeMarco, Structured Analysis and System Specification (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1978);
5. Stephan McMenamin and John Palmer, Essential Systems Analysis (Englewood Cliffs, NJ.: Prentice-Hall, 1984);
6. James and Suzanne Robertson, Complete Systems Analysis (New York: Dorset House Publishing, 1994);
7. Edward Yourdan, Modern Structured Analysis (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Yourdon Press, 1989);
8. and Jeffrey Hoffer, Joey George, and Joseph Valacich, Modern Systems Analysis and Design (Reading, Mass.: Addison Wesley, 1999).
9. Whitten and Bentley, Systems Analysis and Design Methods, 3" edition (Burr Ridge, 111.: Irwin, 1994), 524.
10. and Robertson and Robertson, Complete Systems Analysis, Vol. 1, 214-40.
11. Written and Bentley, Systems Analysis andDesign Methods, 210.
12. For examples of narrative statements, see the IU Electronic Records homepage at http://www.indiana. edu/∼libarche/index.htmlx.
13. IU Internal Audit's list of objectives includes the following: "Determine the level of compliance with University policies and procedures, and state and federal laws and regulations; and evaluate the accuracy, effectiveness and efficiency of the University's electronic information and processing systems." For more information on the IU audit process, see the IU Internal Audit homepage at http://www.indiana.edu/-iuaudit/main.html.
14. Bantin, "Developing a Strategy for Managing Electronic Records," 337-38.
15. I generally agree with Linda Henry's judgment expressed in a recent article that "supporters of a new paradigm for electronic records need to demonstrate conclusively that this approach [employing traditional archival practices] won't work and why, and their arguments need to draw on evidence based on archival history, traditional archival theory, and the experiences of practicing electronic records archivists." (Linda Henry, "Schellenberg in Cyberspace," American Archivist 61 [Fall 1998]: 327). But I would also argue that those archivists who like Henry believe that "archivists should continue using established archival principles and practices in dealing with electronic records" (p. 327) should be judged by the same standards. They too should be required to fully demonstrate the validity and applicability of traditional concepts and practices for electronic records management. One of the frustrating aspects of working in the field of electronic records is the absence of information on the usefulness and costs of strategies and practices for managing electronic records based on actual field tests. The profession desperately needs real-life applications of all types of strategies and methodologies for managing electronic records.