An Open Letter to Wendy McLain, President, ARMA International on the Eve of InfoCon 2022

Dear Ms. McLain, During the latter half of 2010 it became clear to me that ARMA International had become intent on turning its back on its longtime members and joining the Big Tech community’s war on the records management discipline. As a dedicated career records management professional who recognized how vitally important our fiduciary relationship … More An Open Letter to Wendy McLain, President, ARMA International on the Eve of InfoCon 2022

An Update on My Open Letter to ARMA President Michael Haley

It has now been more than a month and a half since I published this open letter to ARMA President Michael Haley…and yet he still hasn’t responded. Please understand, this is far more important than most of you know. I was right nine years ago when I publicly declared that applications built in compliance with … More An Update on My Open Letter to ARMA President Michael Haley

NARA Drops the DoD 5015.2; ‘Information Governance’ is Now ‘Data Lifecycle Management’; and ARMA Continues Its Support of the War on Records Management

There’s been a whirlwind of important activity in records management over the last couple of weeks. I can’t possibly discuss each new development in individual articles, so I am going to try to address everything briefly in this one post. Here goes. NARA DoD 5105.2 Endorsement Revoked First the good news. After a quarter of … More NARA Drops the DoD 5015.2; ‘Information Governance’ is Now ‘Data Lifecycle Management’; and ARMA Continues Its Support of the War on Records Management

A Records Management Professional Submits a FOIA Request

As a long-time Federal records management consultant, I have supported Freedom of Information Act request processing for many years. In all my time dealing with FOIA, I have never come across a request that I thought was written in a way that would prevent the government from interrupting it in a manner that would allow … More A Records Management Professional Submits a FOIA Request

The Fifth Lie

Last year I published a widely-read series of articles I called “The Four Lies Destroying Records Management.” In this post, I will discuss the fifth – and most destructive – lie, “Information Governance.”   ___________________ For thousands of years, records management professionals have provided their customers with the same vitally important service: we efficiently manage … More The Fifth Lie

I Failed to Expose the Failures of DoD 5015.02 Records Management Solutions – And Now Thousands of Afghans Will Pay with Their Lives

On August 11th the DoD Inspector General issued this report to the Department of Defense to ensure all members of the military were clear on their requirements for managing electronic records during the withdrawal from Afghanistan. On Page 4 of the report, the DoD IG specifically calls out the military’s requirement to manage records using DoD … More I Failed to Expose the Failures of DoD 5015.02 Records Management Solutions – And Now Thousands of Afghans Will Pay with Their Lives

The Moral Imperative to Understanding ‘Information Governance’

Last month, a federal judge found that errors by Air Force records managers were primarily responsible for a 2017 mass shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas that resulted in the murders of 26 men, women, and children – including a five year old girl. (This conclusion had already been confirmed a year and a half earlier … More The Moral Imperative to Understanding ‘Information Governance’

We Are Losing the Global War on Records Management…This is What You Can Do to Change That

My Fellow Records Management Professionals, Eight years ago next week, I published an article on AIIM’s industry blog site entitled “On Why I No Longer Support the DoD 5015.2 Standard”. At the time I believed what I knew about the DoD 5015.2 Records Management Application Standard – and the failures of records management solutions certified … More We Are Losing the Global War on Records Management…This is What You Can Do to Change That