Training Programmes in Records Management at the School of Librarianship and Information Sciences of the University of Montreal
| Date | 01 March 1989 |
| Published date | 01 March 1989 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb027027 |
| Pages | 97-112 |
| Author | Carol Couture |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
Training Programmes in Records
Management at the School of
Librarianship and Information Sciences of
the University of Montreal
Carol Couture
Evolution,
Philosophy, Contents and Development
Based for more than fifteen years at the School of Librarianship and
Information Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the EBSI) records
management training has firm roots at the University of Montreal. Even when
relations between librarianship and records management were at their lowest
— I am thinking here of the "battle of the manuscripts"1 in 1973 — the EBSI
continued to offer records management training. A tradition has been
established and this is not to be sneezed at because, like Rome, university
courses cannot be built in a day. Maurice Lebel, the famous Quebec academic,
once said, "It takes 25 years of hard work to build up a quality department."2
The EBSI celebrated its twenty fifth anniversary in 1987, and records
management courses have now been running in the department for some fifteen
years.
We can therefore rightly claim that at the University of Montreal records
management is able to develop within the framework of a well-established
school.
But what exactly is the School of Librarianship and Information Sciences? It
is a school of professional training offering courses to first and second cycle*
students, for those interested in the different procedures used in the collection,
organisation, storage, preservation, retrieval and the dissemination of
information in society. In short the EBSI is concerned with the management of
information and in view of this it is of some interest to the School that records
management has become a partner in the sphere of information sciences in
order to manage one common subject: information.
After a brief look at the past in the first part of this text, in the second part we
shall discuss the well-established principles of the philosophy behind the
courses in records management at the EBSI; and in the third part we shall
indicate the contents of the two records management courses; and then finally
we shall look briefly at the main lines of thought and the priorities which, in all
likelihood, will dominate their development.
*This text is based on a paper given by the author at the congress held by the Association des
archivistes du Québec, AAQ (Association of Quebec Archivists) in May 1988 in Quebec. The
details of the paper were published in the magazine Archives (AAQ), vol. 20, no. 3 (1989)
pp.
3-10.
97
Carol Couture
A Brief Look at the Past
A review of the existence of records management at the EBSI has already been
discussed elsewhere3; therefore here we shall simply take a brief look at the
most important points in time in the implementation and development of this
discipline at the University of Montreal. Records Management first appeared
properly in 1971 in what was, at that time, the School of Librarianship—which
in 1984 became the School of Librarianship and Information Sciences. At that
stage Records Management was a course worth three credit units4 and was
offered to students in the second year of their master's degree; thus it was a
course for final honours students. Of course the aim of this course was not to
train archivists on records managers but rather the aim was to make librarians
more aware of the concepts of records management.
From 1980, owing to a revision of the enterprise programme in 1979 at the
EBSI, Records Management was increased to two courses, each worth three
credit units. It also became possible to go on a work experience placement—for
twenty working days — worth four credit units.
It was in this context that in March 1982 the EBSI held a day of study,
reflection and discussion on the possibility of pursuing the development of
records management at the School. The event was both a culmination of ideas
and a new point of departure. Those taking part included the students and
lecturers from the EBSI, administration staff from the Faculty of Advanced
Studies and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences from the University of Montreal,
and professional archivists and records managers. By the end of this day, which
was of great significance to the development of records management training at
the University of Montreal, it was clear that we needed to go further. The
political will was there for the further development of records management
training; furthermore the aim was no longer simply to make students aware of
the subject but rather to give students a proper training in it. This aim was set
out in concrete terms based on two recommendations that came out of the study
day:
- the introduction of a compulsory course in records management as part
of the first year of
a
masters course;
- to implement a detailed course of study in records management that
would be offered to students in the second year of their masters degree (by
detailed course of study is meant three courses each worth three credit
units and a placement worth four credit units). This also meant that
students had the possibility of writing their dissertation on records
management (the dissertation being worth twenty credit units).
From September 1982, in response to an express demand from the
Training Committee for the Association des archivistes du Quebec
(A.A.Q.
— Quebec Archivists Association), the EBSI offers two post-
experience courses in records management.5
Following on from that the 1983-84 academic year saw the introduction of a
first cycle certificate in records management6 (the first students took this in
September 1983) and the opening, for second cycle students, of a detailed
course of study in records management offered to students reading for
a
masters
degree in librarianship which has since become the Masters Degree in
Librarianship and Information Sciences (MBSI). For the first time in Quebec,
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