Would we think differently about records and recordkeepers if some of these words were real?  What do some of these words say about records, recordkeeping and recordkeepers?

And now for the people (and their wardrobes):

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Perhaps the key chapter for the UK experience is that contributed by the editors, examining FoI from the historian’s perspective.  The authors make the case for a generally high level of trust among contemporary historians in the integrity and operation of the 30 year rule (originally 50 years in the first Public Records Act 1958, reduced to 30 in 1967) before the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in 2005.

Contrasting with the demands and perceptions of the non-historian for freedom of information, the authors comment

The irony of FoI might be that it apparently enables historians better to question and understand near-contemporary events, while simultaneously weakening the records of government’s decision-making process.

This theme is picked up by Inga-Britt Ahlenius (formerly head of the Swedish National Audit Office), who makes a strong case for the development of an “…oral decision-making culture in which people purposefully refrain from documenting decision-making.”  Sweden of course has the world’s oldest freedom of information regime, dating from the Freedom of the Press Act in 1766 (the “Tryckfrihetsförordning”).

This points to a clear tension between open government, and historical research in the provisions of freedom of information.  Whether you agree with Rab Butler’s reported maxim ‘good government flourishes in the dark’ or with Wikileaks’ self-proclaimed mission to “publish material of ethical, political and historical significance while keeping the identity of our sources anonymous, thus providing a universal way for the revealing of suppressed and censored injustices”, a central area of concern for recordkeepers – and for historians – surely must be the effective and appropriate documentation of the processes of decision-making in government?

files by A3sthetix on flickr

Flinn & Jones also imply that historians would do well to study or understand archival science and practice.  On the run-up to 2005, as public authorities prepared for the implementation of the Act, the media reported stories of mass destruction of documents (one example here).  And yet,

Despite the occasional invective against the ‘anti-historians’ responsible for the destruction of documents, it is not clear to what degree most historians have been aware of the extent to which the records have been appraised and weeded before they are made available in the archive, however, with typically fewer than 5% of records created by government finding their way into The National Archives.

I’ve already argued – and will continue to do so – that appraisal, the fundamental part of the recordkeeper’s role, must be both examined and documented by records managers AND archivists.  And criteria – including retention schedules – must be available openly and developed/revised in consultation.

Much more to say on all of this!

Make use of features in your email programme.

• Search is really useful – if you have lots of unread items, you could set up a search to help you prioritise them.  Some useful searches are: sent by my boss/my boss’ boss; only sent to me; unread and over a week old.
• in outlook you can right-click then drag and drop to another folder – such as calendar or tasks.  Choose “Move here as appointment/task with attachment” and outlook will make a new appointment/task for you, containing the email as a reminder.  This saves switching between the email with meeting details and your new appointment, for example.
• some people like the reading pane or message preview, others don’t.  You need to watch out for spam if you use preview, but otherwise both can be useful for quickly scanning and taking a decision about what to do with the mail.

Attachments take up loads of space – in your own mailbox and also in other people’s.  They also take time & clicks to open.  If your attachment only contains a couple of paragraphs, then it’s worth cutting & pasting and including in the body of the email – perhaps underneath your signature.   Or try sending a link instead if your document is stored somewhere that all the message recipients can also reach eg. shared network drive.

Inform your message recipient clearly what you want them to do as a result of the message.  I know I said this last week, but it’s worth saying again.  If you start an email with a clear statement of the action you want someone to take, plus a timeframe, and end it in the same way, you will usually guide the recipient to a response that’s helpful to you eg. ideally “Yes fine, go ahead”.

Limit recipients – do you really need to copy everyone in, or reply to all?

Switch to the phone or pop round for a chat – if an email has generated an exchange of more than 3 or 4 further messages, consider giving the person a ring.  Obviously something hasn’t been clear earlier in the trail – and it will take more email to sort it out.  Often it’s quicker and easier in the long run just to have a chat.

I’ve been working with a few people recently and the following are some of the things that have helped them get on top of their mailboxes.  I have permission to say that the worst inbox I’ve helped deal with contained 6,478 items – 5,893 were unread (!).  If this sounds like you, why not try some of these ideas -  let me know if any work for you!

Evaluate before you hit send.  The kind of email you send out affects the kind of email – both quality and quantity – you receive.  Soif you answer “no” to any of the following, then think again before you send:  am I clear about what this email is about and what I want the recipient to do as a result?  is email the best medium for this purpose? do I feel kindly disposed towards the recipient? would there be consequences if someone else read the email?

Meet-o-matic, Doodle, and similar tools are brilliant for arranging meetings with people external to your organisation.  For internal meetings, learn how to use your Outlook (or equivalent) calendar for scheduling at times that all the attendees are free – this cuts down on lots of exchanges about dates and arrangements.

Action should be obvious from your subject line and your email.  Is it for information, or do you want someone to do something as a result of the email? – if so, what do you want them to do and by when?  This is closely linked to understanding the reason for sending the email in the first place (as above!).  If something is genuinely urgent, then it can be helpful to use flags or the red exclamation mark.  Conversely, if something is NOT urgent, a flag or blue downwards arrow shows the recipient that you thought it was worth sending them the mail, but don’t expect them to drop everything to deal with it! – a bit of consideration of others will often come back to you…

Inbox is where you keep things you haven’t dealt with yet: it’s a to-do list.  If you’re storing loads of emails in your inbox and are feeling totally swamped as a result, why not move into separate folders: older emails (more than 1 month at least), read emails, emails sent to you AND to lots of other people, and things you’ve kept for reference.  Your email programme’s search facility will mean you can find them again – if you ever need to

Listservs are the bane of many people’s lives.  If you feel you really can’t live without a daily fix of jiscmail lists, then why not try a daily digest? – all the messages from one day, sent to you at the end of the day?  Nothing on a listserv is so urgent that you need to read it RIGHT NOW!  Listserv archives are usually available online – so you don’t need to keep your own copy of messages in your mailbox.  Jiscmail offers a lot of useful features, including reading messages on the website where you can hover over the message without even having to open it (see picture) – and instantly decide whether it’s relevant to you or not.  Which leads us on to…

Spend time with your mailbox wisely.  Richard Branson is reputed to check email once a day.  I try and limit it to two half-hours.  Turn off notifications of new mail arriving.  “Doing email” is not always very productive work.

Nonetheless, researching the then rights-holders and securing permissions – where possible – to digitise and make the plans available online took much longer than anticipated, even allowing for the use of the fantastic resources at the RIBA British Architectural Library and the numerous directories based on extensive research into the profession of architect.

Since the days of the NOF projects, a lot of lessons have been learned about handling IPR and much good practice and useful tools developed.  I recently came across an extremely useful IPR risk management calculator intended for use at the project planning stage.  The tool (first iteration) gives a very quick indication of indicative risk level and links to further information about steps to mitigate risks such as templates for Notice and Take Down Policies.

The calculator has been designed to provide a guide to the types of criteria which might reduce or raise levels of risks associated with material for which permission has not been sought, and then help understand the types of decisions which could potentially reduce their risk. Typical examples of this might include materials which are still in copyright, but for which the rights holders cannot be traced or are unknown (so called “Orphan Works”)…

[The] Risk Management Calculator provides an INDICATIVE risk level only, but demonstrates that for example, the more open the end use licence you select to make these types of materials accessible and reusable, the greater the potential risk if you have not sought the appropriate permissions.

If your workplace New Year’s resolution for 2011 was to get on top of your mailbox, then perhaps the following may be helpful…

On the 12th Day of Christmas I hit the delete key

(on)

Twelve Colleagues Copied

Eleven Listserv Pedants

Ten Reminders Nagging

Nine Writers Rambling

Eight ‘Me Too’ Missives

Seven Subject Secrets

Six Big Attachments

Five Old Meetings

Four ‘Calls Missed’

Three Nigerian Spams

Two Ranting Folk

and I made lots of time for me.

More on my favourite topic – Inbox Zero – another time.  Happy 2011!

For those who don’t know The 12 Days of Christmas song – see wikipedia

However in the last week I’ve come across some really useful commentary on Freedom of Information from different perspectives, and have also recently finished “Freedom of Information: open access, empty archives?” (ed. Flinn & Jones, Routledge 2009 – volume details; British Library inter-library loan much more cost-effective!!) – more on that volume later.

FoI  Man – an FoI officer based in London; I guess working in local government.  His blog blurb says

Why am I writing anonymously?  Well, apart from rather enjoying the image of myself in lycra tights, cape and mask, I think I can write, to use an FOI phrase, in a “free and frank” manner. I don’t intend to use this blog to publicly criticise my own employer. Neither do I want to ‘leak’ information. This is about challenging attitudes more generally, and using examples to illustrate broader principles about openness, confidentiality and so on. I can do that much more easily if my views aren’t associated with any single person or organisation.

He’s also on twitter – @FoIManUK.

The next one is not anonymous – the journalist David Higgerson.  Although it’s a blog about journalism, David also blogs about FoI because “I believe [the act] is one of the most powerful tools at our disposal as journalists, and one which should be used more frequently.”

Obviously the Campaign for Freedom of Information has long been a great source of information and opinion.

Although focussing on film archives, this short video from JISC’s Film and Sound Think Tank (who knew?!) articulates issues for archives in all formats.

Open Culture‘s blog says

The issues are situated, of course, within the larger context of building a free and informed society. For universities, museums, archives, and others, bringing video online from our cultural heritage (and equipping students to use it) has become a new cultural imperative. Open video on Wikipedia is not simply a call for free media fragments to be stored online. It augurs a new vision of teaching and learning, and a new creative and political discourse. Everyone is invited to participate in this conversation just getting underway…

Are we up to the challenge in the current climate?

From the #archives: Internal #PostOffice #poster on the dange… on Twitpic.