Introduction
Institutions now create and receive more information than ever before. Technology, the increasing size and complexity of modern organisations and the move towards a 'knowledge-based economy' have all helped to drive this trend. Unfortunately our collective capacity to create and disseminate information is in danger of outstripping our ability to manage it. This can often lead to individuals feeling as though they are fighting a losing battle. What should be a positive and enabling asset can rapidly become an unwelcome burden and a drain on precious time and resources. Whether it is the thousands of messages in an email account, the mountain of papers on a desk, or the disorganised shared network the problems are largely the same: not being able to find the right information at the right time, not being able to trust that information as being accurate and up-to-date and not knowing what to do with it when you have finished with it.
This guide aims to help address these problems. It has been designed to answer real life questions and provide practical solutions. It does not dwell overly on theory or assume idealised situations which bear little resemblance to reality. It does not claim to be a comprehensive guide but does provide references to sources of further information where relevant for the user who wishes to obtain more detail on a given issue.
It is particularly aimed at those who have responsibility for setting up or maintaining information and records management measures within their local area, be that a project team, department or faculty but should also be of use to anyone who creates or uses information as part of their daily work but who is not necessarily a trained information management professional.
The guide is structured into the following sections to which you can navigate using the links in the left-hand box:
Creating Information
Do you struggle to find information created either by yourself or others?
Version Control
Are you sometimes unsure as to which is the most recent version of a document?
Managing Email
Is your email inbox out of control?
Disposing of Information
Are you unsure about when it is safe to destroy information?
Preserving Information
Will you still be able to get to your information in a few years time?
Feedback is particularly welcome and all comments received will be taken into consideration when updating this resource. Please email all comments to jiscinfonet@northumbria.ac.uk
