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Records, Information and Data: Exploring the role of record keeping in an information culture book cover

1st Edition

Records, Information and Data Exploring the role of record keeping in an information culture

By Geoffrey Yeo
    192 Pages
    by Facet Publishing

    <p >This dynamic book considers whether and how the
    management of records (and archives) differs from the management of information
    (and data). </p>
    <p >Can archives and records management still make a
    distinctive contribution in the 21st century, or are they now being dissolved
    into&#160;a wider world of information governance? What should be our
    conceptual understanding of records in the digital era? What are the practical
    implications of the information revolution for the work of archivists and
    records managers?</p>
    <p ><o:p></p>
    <p >Geoffrey Yeo,&#160;a distinguished expert in the global
    field, explores concepts of &#145;records&#146; and &#145;archives&#146; and sets today&#146;s
    record-keeping and archival practices in their historical context.&#160;He
    examines changing perceptions of the nature and purpose of records management
    and archival work, notions of convergence among information-related
    disciplines, and archivists&#146; and records managers&#146; attitudes to information and
    its governance. </p>
    <p >Starting with Peter Morville&#146;s dictum that &#145;when we try
    to define information,&#160;we become lost in a hall of mirrors&#146;, Yeo considers
    different understandings of the concept of &#145;information&#146; and their
    applicability to the field&#160;of archives and records management. He also
    looks at the world of data science and data administration, and asks whether
    and how far recent work in this area can enhance our knowledge of how records
    function and how they relate to the information universe.</p>
    <p ><o:p></p>
    <p >Key topics covered include:</p>
    <p ><ul>
    <li>The keeping of
    records: a brief historical overview</li>
    <li>Thinking about
    records and archives: the transition to the digital</li>
    <li>Archivists,
    records managers and the allure of information</li>
    <li>Finding a way
    through the hall of mirrors: concepts of information</li>
    <li>Records and
    data &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160;</li>
    <li>Why records are
    not (just) information; understanding records in the digital era.</li>
    </ul>
    </p>
    <p ><o:p></p>
    <p >This thought provoking and timely book is primarily
    intended for records managers and archivists, but should also be of interest to
    professionals in a range of information-related disciplines. In addressing the
    place&#160;of record-keeping in contemporary information culture, it aims to
    provide a balance of theory and practice that will appeal to practitioners as
    well as students and academics around the world.<o:p></p>

    Introduction Concepts of information, data and records Background to the book Structure and content Acknowledgements 1. The making and keeping of records: a brief historical overview Record-making and record-keeping over 10,000 years Records, memory and evidence Repositories and their curators Archivists and the emergence of records management 2. Thinking about records and archives; the transition to the digital Fixity and fluidity in the digital domain Adventures over time Record aggregations Archival mind-sets Information: a fifth paradigm? 3. Archivists, records managers and the rise of information Accentuating information in contemporary culture Records management and information governance Information and archives Making connections between records and information: diverse views Managing information ‘as a record’ 4. Finding a way through the hall of mirrors: concepts of information Information and its reification Records management and new concepts of information Information as content or information as affordance? Dissent and debate 5. Records and data The ‘datafication’ of records Further perspectives on data and record-keeping Data and information: some conflicting views Factuality Contested concepts 6. Representation, performativity and social action: why records are not (just) information Representations Speech acts Propositions and performativity Data, computers and the making of speech acts Metadata Doing things with records From speech acts to social acts The ‘information potentials’ of records Information, evidence and other affordances 7. Managing information or managing records? Conceptions and practices of ‘information management’: information as proposition Information management and records management: two peas from different pods? Making use of records despite their imperfections Knowing ‘what was said’ Characteristics of records and information ‘Authoritative’ records and the scope of record-keeping Concluding thoughts: record-keeping present and future The digital deluge Records in an information culture

    Biography

    <b>Geoffrey Yeo</b> is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Information Studies at University College London. His previous work for Facet includes <i>Managing Records: A handbook of principles and practice</i> (with Elizabeth Shepherd, 2003), and <i>Managing Records in Global Financial Markets</i> (with Lynn Coleman, Victoria Lemieux and Rod Stone, 2011).

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