Piloting a postgraduate distance learning course in Records Management for practising records managers
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb027079 |
| Published date | 01 February 1995 |
| Date | 01 February 1995 |
| Pages | 61-78 |
| Author | JULIE MCLEOD |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
Piloting a postgraduate distance
learning course in Records
Management for practising
records managers
JULIE MCLEOD
ABSTRACT
This article concerns the preparation and delivery of a part of an existing post-
graduate records management course to a sample of records management practi-
tioners at a distance. The project was a pilot study for the subsequent develop-
ment of a distance learning course in records management in the Department of
Information and Library Management at the University of Northumbria at New-
castle.
The objectives were to investigate the practitioners' learning experience by ana-
lysing their thoughts and feelings recorded in a diary, to assess the suitability of
existing learning materials and to identify appropriate delivery methods for
dif-
ferent types of materials. Models of both learning and writing distance learning
materials were adopted from the literature. Paper, audio and electronic materials
were developed.
The results will be used to make recommendations for developing the entire
course.
Introduction
Records management is a newly developing discipline for the informa-
tion age whose goal is the effective and efficient management of propri-
etary information, i.e. the information produced by business during its
normal course of operation. It is a discipline aspiring to be a profession
but, to date, lacks a fully developed framework for education, training and
named qualifications.
Records Management Journal, vol. 5, no. 2, December 1995, pp. 61-78
Records
Management Journal
vol.
5
no.
2
This article describes the current educational and training provision for
records management and a recently completed pilot study into the devel-
opment of a postgraduate distance learning course in records management
for practising records managers.
Records management practice and education
In organisations as diverse as BP, The World Bank, central government,
pharmaceutical companies and voluntary organisations, records manage-
ment is, now being recognised as a management function and is currently
undertaken by staff at a variety of levels including senior management
level. There are, therefore, many senior practitioners who have acquired
their records management skills and knowledge by working on the job,
but who are now seeking validation and accreditation for their status and
achievements.
Schemes such as CATS (Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme) and
APEL (Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning), the introduction of
NVQ's (National Vocational Qualifications) to assess work-based learn-
ing and the modularisation of higher education courses now provide the
infrastructure for practitioners to acquire credit for existing experience and
skills and a realistic opportunity to learn new competencies. Together these
will, over time, result in a formal qualification.
Currently the Department of Information and Library Management (DILM)
at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle (UNN) offers a postgraduate
qualification in information and records management at masters level, the
first such qualification outside London. The structure of the course is
modelled on the Department's well established Postgraduate Diploma/MA/
MSc in Information and Library Management comprising two semesters
of taught classes, a four week supervised work placement and a 15 week
dissertation element. The information management units of
the
two courses
are common and include information technology, management, research
methods, data analysis and communication and presentation. The records
management units which include records management programmes,
records processing systems, records creation, audits and scheduling and
archives, are based on a model syllabus jointly developed by the Records
Management Society and the Society of Archivists.
The records management course is available for both full-time and part-
time study. Students studying part-time must attend the university one day
per week and, therefore, are drawn from the North East of England.
Potential work-based candidates, however, are distributed all over the
country.
The results of research undertaken in the North East of England by DILM1
to investigate the need for such a course, identified a range of individuals
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