I've been thinking how technological advances such as photography, the internal combustion engine, television, and portable electronic devices such as the iPad and MP3 forced radical change to affected sectors (artists, draft horses, radio and paper publishing).
The sectors mentioned above have faced massive change. They had to adjust their purpose in order to survive. Radio lives alongside it's more technologically advanced cousins, carving out a niche for itself. We still see draft horses...much reduced in population...in parades. An "artist" today is another beast entirely; giving over reality to the camera and redefining itself. We will see a radical change to the print industry in my lifetime, thanks to the new portable devices. But books will remain as an ornament, a novelty. Newspapers will shrink; expanded content will have to be referenced online.
So what does this mean for the profession of Records Management? Are the skills honed for paper transferrable to the information world? Are we true Information Managers, ready to tackle a virtual world of information? I worry that there is so much focus in my industry on security and protection; cautionary tales about the new technologies. We must not forget that our primary task is to help our business find what they need, when they need it. Can we blame business if they question our value when there is no apparent intervention of the Records Manager to access their information? Could we marginalize our own profession by presenting ourselves as a barrier rather than a support to daily business?
The skills I see as being replaced or made obsolete by the new technologies include packaging by file, indexing and classification, and sorting. Perhaps I will expand on these later.
The skills the information world will continue to demand include disposition (regular disposals to extend the life of our assets, remove clutter, and reduce risk). An emerging support is to assist users in effective self indexing and searching. We will be needed during the transition to the "paperless" office, to help businesses define their information assets.
The lesson from radical change is that we must be flexible as a profession, take note of emerging needs, and be prepared to redefine ourselves to the new world.
