Development of RMJ. A mirror of the development of the profession and discipline of records management
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09565691011036215 |
| Published date | 30 March 2010 |
| Date | 30 March 2010 |
| Pages | 9-40 |
| Author | Julie McLeod,Catherine Hare |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
ARTICLES
Development of RMJ
A mirror of the development of the profession
and discipline of records management
Julie McLeod
School of Computer Engineering and Information Sciences,
Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, and
Catherine Hare
Records Management Consultant, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine critically the history of Records Management
Journal on its 20th anniversary; it aims to review and analyse its evolution and its contribution in the
context of the development of the profession and the discipline of records management. The paper
seeks to provide the context and justification for the selection of eight articles previously published in
the journal to be reprinted in this issue.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper utilises the contents of Records Management Journal
(1989 to date) to present a thematic analysis of topics covered and their development over time, and
statistical data (from 2002 to date) provided by the current publisher to assess quantitatively the use
and impact of the journal worldwide. The paper then compares this with a series of key turning points
in the records management profession.
Findings – There is evidence that the initial aspiration for the journal to make an important and
long-lasting impact on the field of records management in the UK has been exceeded because its
readers and contributors are global. The volume of downloads has continued to increase year-on-year
and the journal appears to be the only peer-reviewed journal in the world in the records management
discipline. The journal has responded to and kept abreast of the records management agenda.
Research limitations/implications – The analysis is based on the work of the current and
immediate past Editor and did not seek the views of its Editorial Board members, readers or
contributors to the journal.
Practical implications – Looking to the future, the journal must seek to widen its impact on other
key stakeholders in managing information and records – managers, information systems designers,
information creators and users – as well as records professionals. It must also continue to develop the
scope of its content, whilst maintaining its focus on managing records, and must keep pace with
technology developments. It should try to influence the professional agenda, be controversial,
stimulate debate and encourage change. And it should remain a quality resource.
Originality/value – The paper provides a unique critical analysis of the journal, its history and
contribution to the development of records management, on its 20th anniversary of publication.
Keywords Records management, Information management, Publishing,Professional education
Paper type General review
Introduction
From its first issue in 1989, which comprised four articles and two items that became
regular features for its initial period of activity, the content and breadth of coverage of
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0956-5698.htm
Development
of RMJ
9
Received 18 December 2009
Accepted 15 January 2010
Records Management Journal
Vol. 20 No. 1, 2010
pp. 9-40
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0956-5698
DOI 10.1108/09565691011036215
the Records Management Journal (RMJ) were established. And if one were to compare
the list of contents of that first issue and the last issue of 2009 many of the issues,
impact of IT, challenges of records management in different sectors, and the range of
backgrounds of the contributors are the same. But there have been changes, not only in
content but also in the journal’s role, purpose and position in the world of records
management, which has itself seen significant developments over the past two
decades. This article aims to balance a review of the history of RMJ on its 20th
anniversary with a critical analysis of its evolution and contribution to the
development and shaping of the profession and the discipline of records management.
Creation
RMJ was launched in 1989 at the end of the decade which had seen, in 1980, the launch
of the Records Management Quarterly, published by ARMA; the sale of the first IBM
PC in 1981; the foundation in 1983 of the Records Management Society of Great Britain;
and the coming into force in 1984 of the UK Data Protection Act. The 1980s was also
the decade which saw a series of technological advances – digital scanning, improved
computer speed, low-cost digital storage, image displays and laser printers – all of
which made electronic records possible and led to the development of the first records
management software applications (Hoke, n.d.). A new role was being created for
records managers (or perhaps at this stage it would be more accurate to say those
working in records management) who until then had focused on the handling of paper
records, and the time was right for a journal devoted to records management; but how
exactly did it come about?
It was the idea of Aslib, The Association for Information Management (see www.as
lib.co.uk), to introduce a journal devoted to records management, independent of any
professional society, to embrace the issues and challenges facing records across the
world. The journal was published on a quarterly basis for the first three years, but then
there was a break in publication during 1992 and 1993 when the first editor resigned
and Aslib decided to suspend publication (Poynder, 2003). When Volume 4 appeared in
1994 it was with new Editors – Catherine Hare and Angela Jones-Evans – who were
based in the Department of Information and Library Management at Northumbria
University. Aslib had approached Catherine Hare because Northumbria (Newcastle
Polytechnic at the time) had developed a Master’s-level module in records management
– the first Library School to do so. This broadened the base of records management,
marking it out as part of information management rather than the handmaiden of
archives management and a small part of archives courses. They introduced some
changes, a crucial one being the establishment of an Editorial Board. The first Board
members were a combination of six practitioners and academics, two of whom remain
members of the Board today: Elizabeth Shepherd, an academic based at University
College London; and Ian Day, a practitioner currently working at the Human Rights
Commission. This balanced combination of practitioners and academics has remained
a feature of the Board ever since and one of the foundations of RMJ emphasising the
marrying of theory from the academic world with practice from the workplace. In 2004
the Board’s membership was expanded to 12, extending its international
representation. This range of representation underpins the role, or “charter”, of the
Editorial Board, which is to represent the expertise, experience and status of the
RMJ
20,1
10
profession and academic discipline of records management, to provide advice to the
editor(s) on key players, institutions, current and emerging theory and practice and
guide the journal’s direction and development, in addition to reviewing article
submissions. (Appendix 1 provides a complete list of the Editorial Board members to
date.) When Angela Jones-Evans left Northumbria University, Julie McLeod, who had
joined the University from the pharmaceutical sector, became joint Editor with
Catherine Hare; this ensured that the joint editors reflected the two pillars of academic
thinking and practice.
In December 2001, as the final issue of Volume 11 of RMJ appeared, Emerald bought
RMJ from Aslib, along with seven other titles. This took Emerald’s total number of
information management titles to 24 and positioned it as the leading publisher of
journals in this field (Emerald, 2002). Since 2002 RMJ has been published in association
with Aslib[1].
Diane Heath was Emerald’s first Managing Editor of the RMJ and was invaluable in
supporting us and the Editorial Board, helping to steer the journal’s growth, in
particular with regard to marketing, publicity and distribution opportunities. It was
during Diane’s period of office that the complete backfiles archive of the journal, i.e
articles from Volume 1 to Volume 7, 1997, were made available electronically. When
Diane moved to another role at Emerald, Elizabeth Scott became the journal’s
Managing Editor and has initiated and is actively overseeing the preparations for its
20th anniversary volume. An additional facility recently introduced by Emerald is
EarlyCite, providing access to pre-published accepted papers online.
RMJ, as it enters its 20th volume, has thus experienced some changes in terms of
production and publication, but its fundamental purpose and mission as an
independent journal, still the only one, with a breadth and depth in its coverage of the
global reality of records management has remained constant.
Purpose
When RMJ was launched it was clear from the first editorial that, because records
managers at the time were perceived to be lacking in management skills, the journal
would:
... cover a variety of managerial topics, in addition to the more familiar, specialized topics
pertinent to records management (Morddel, 1989).
In 1994 its aim was to publish “material on all aspects of creating, processing and the
disposal or retention of records, whatever their form, emphasizing the latest research
and current practice”[2].
Since 2004 the aims of RMJ have been to provide:
.a forum for the dissemination of scholarly articles, professional practice, research
reports and critical reviews in records management;
.a link between research and scholarship and reflective professional best practice
so that both are informed and enhanced; and
.a link between research, scholarship and practice in records management and
other relevant disciplines[3].
Its scope is records management in its broadest definition:
Development
of RMJ
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