Records, Information and Data
Exploring the role of record keeping in an information culture
Principles and Practice in Records Management and Archives Series

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">This dynamic book considers whether and how the
management of records (and archives) differs from the management of information
(and data). </p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing">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 class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing">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 class="MsoNoSpacing">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 class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing">Key topics covered include:</p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><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 class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing">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

<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).