Title: With an ever-increasing volume of records being generated electronically -- from PC’s to mainframes, there is a need to understand the many paradigm shifts in the management of document-based information. New paradigms are much more than just the change
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Company: Archives & Museum Informatics

Electronic Records Research 1997: Resource Materials
Compilation Copyright, Archives & Museum Informatics 1998
Article Copyright, Author

The New Paradigms of Managing Electronic Records/Images
by Robert F. Williams
ImagingWorld Contributing Editor

With the ever-increasing volume of records being generated electronically -- from PCs to mainframes -- there is a need to understand the many paradigm shifts occurring in the management of document-based information.  The following new paradigms are the result of the basic analog to digital change in the information itself.
	1.	No longer is space reduction the primary benefit of storing records on media other than paper; now, with electronic records and images, time compression is the primary benefit.
	2.	Historically, records have been objects filed geographically.  That has been the core principal behind all paper and most microfilm document storage systems.  Now, all electronic records and images are filed randomly with typically much faster access. 
	3.	With the change in how records are filed, there has also been a change in how they are organized.  Traditional paper and many microfilm systems have necessitated a “put together” system, in which records relating to a common subject were manually filed together.  Now, all electronic records are organized using a “tie together” system, in which an independent database index provides virtually unlimited flexibility in linking related documents to each other.
	4.	Historically, it was only possible to index paper and many microfilm files by a single index criteria.  Computer-assisted micrographic and paper retrieval systems introduced the potential benefits of multiple indices, which are now an integral and easy-to-use feature of all electronic records/imaging systems.
	5.	The focus of document-based information has been on media longevity -- how long paper or microfilm will last.  Now, the primary focus is on information accessibility -- how we can ensure the ongoing availability of information when it must be retained longer than the probable life of the system in which it is stored.  In turn, this issue has introduced an important new dimension regarding the long-term management of electronic records and images: media migration.
	6.	Historically, records managers have been document custodians of information repositories.  With the advent of electronic records and images, those who are responsible for managing records are increasingly becoming systems managers, whose focus is shifting from being able to find the necessary information to being able to deliver that information.
	7.	A related paradigm shift is the change from people dependency to system dependency.  In the past, records managers have been pivotal in the retrieval of records -- since retrieval requests had to be processed through them.  Now, instead of people, users are totally dependent on the computer system that manages the storage and retrieval of records.
	8.	There is a change from archivability (professionally retaining records so the storage media will last) to accountability (documenting that the process of records retention is accurate, reliable and trustworthy) as being the most important records retention issue.
	9.	Historically, accessibility was paramount; now, readability is the key issue, given the dependence on systems and software.
	10.	Records management historically has had a segmented functionality, where its integrity was derived from its functional separation wherever possible.  Now, with desktop accessibility to electronic records and images, integrated functionality has increasingly become the norm for document-based information.
	11.	In the retention of records, there has been a change from planning on the basis of a media life cycle to a much shorter time frame, the system’s life cycle.  No longer is the focus on how long the media will last; now, it is on how long a system will be serviced by its manufacturer.
	12.	Increasingly, there there has been a realization that there were large, hidden, pay later costs to the way records have been traditionally managed.  With electronic records/imaging systems, the costs are more defined and must be incurred at a much earlier -- pay now -- point in the life cycle of records.
	13.	One of the most important paradigm shifts is from centralized file access to decentralized file access.  As a result, it is no longer necessary to bring the people to the information; now, we can bring the information to the people.  It is this paradigm shift that has precipitated the major commitment to business reengineering that is associated with electronic records/imaging systems.  The change from centralized to decentralized files also has resulted in the paradigm shift from reactive retrieval to proactive retrieval.  
Collectively, all of these paradigm shifts are resulting in a revolutionary change in the way document-based information is being managed.  The new records management paradigms are opening a “new frontier” in the management of document-based information.