Information Management Journal

Browse past and current articles from this publication.

Committing to good information governance.(IN FOCUS: A Message from the Editor)
Organizations that establish a successful records management program will reap the benefits of cost savings, improved operating efficiencies, and better compliance. With the current economic crisis, . . .

Wal-Mart to roll out e-health records.(HEALTH RECORDS)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Wal-Mart stores plan to jump into the electronic health record market by bringing the technology to physicians in small practices. According to a New York Times report, Wa . . .

Swiss Bank to open secret files.(TAX EVASION)
UBS, Switzerland's largest bank, agreed to a U.S. demand to divulge the names of wealthy Americans whom U.S. authorities suspect of opening accounts at the bank to evade taxes. Threatened with crimi . . .

White House names first CIO.(INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)
The Obama administration has named Vivek Kundra as the first White House chief information officer, where he is expected to expand uses of cutting-edge technology. Kundra will have wide powers ove . . .

B.C. criticized for slow response to FOI requests.(GOVERNMENT RECORDS)
British Columbia is too slow in responding to information requests from the public under the Freedom of Information (FOI) process, according to a government watchdog. In his report released in Feb . . .

Iowa governor scrutinized over personal e-mail use.(E-MAIL)
During his first two years as Iowa governor, Chet Culver did not use his state e-mail account, instead opting to use a private e-mail account in what critics called an effort to avoid public records . . .

New details emerge on George W. Bush library.(ARCHIVES)
George W. Bush's presidential library will comprise a space as big as an average Wal-Mart Super Center, or an estimated 207,000 square feet, according to The Dallas Morning News. The library, whic . . .

NAGARA launches online library.(GOVERNMENT RECORDS)
The National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators (NAGARA) has launched an online document library that allows users to share records management and archives publications. . . .

Survey gives states mixed review on transparency.(GOVERNMENT RECORDS)
States are posting more government records online, but they are leaving some of the most important information offline, according to a recent study. The Sunshine Week 2009 Survey of State Governme . . .

Federal agency spends $6 million on e-discovery.(E-DISCOVERY)
The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) spent nearly 9% of its annual budget responding to a discovery request for documents in a case involving Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Acco . . .

Australia's legal system gets e-discovery rules.(E-DISCOVERY)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Federal Court of Australia has introduced e-discovery rules requiring all electronic documents and e-mails to be produced and exchanged electronically, preferably in the . . .

Finland approves e-mail tracking law.(E-MAIL)
The Finnish Parliament approved a controversial law in March allowing employers to track workers' e-mails. Lawmakers approved the government legislation--dubbed "Nokia's Law"--in a 96 to 56 vote. . . .

E-discovery firm can't find its e-mails.(E-MAIL)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Guidance Software Inc. has been accused of gross negligence and proceeding in bad faith in a gender discrimination suit because it could not find e-mails critical to the cas . . .

HIPAA violation costs CVS $2.25 million.(PRIVACY)
In what may signal a new commitment to enforce Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) rules, the U.S. government will receive $2.25 million from CVS Caremark Corp. to settle cha . . .

Wikileaks posts Congressional reports.(INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Wikileaks.org has published a complete database of Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports dating back to 1990. Wikileaks estimates the private research documents wri . . .

Mayor Nagin confirms 2008 e-mails were deleted.(E-MAIL)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has confirmed that all his 2008 e-mails--sent and received--have been deleted, along with half of his 2008 calendar. He said the messages were . . .

FCC warns telecom firms to protect data.(PRIVACY)
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to fine hundreds of small telecommunications providers more than $13 million for not following new rules designed to protect customer phone data. . . .

BSI releases IM standards.(STANDARDS)
The British Standards Institute (BSI) has released two standards--one published, one in draft form--in response to electronic information management issues. In December BSI published BS 10008, Evi . . .

Facebook cancels changes to user rules.(PRIVACY)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Popular social networking site Facebook, which allows users to share photos and personal messages, recently took an about face when it decided to cancel planned changes to i . . .

New chief to tackle VA paper problems.(ARCHIVES)
Eric Shinseki, the newly appointed head of the Department of Veterans Affairs, wants to fundamentally change how the department handles paperwork. During a House Committee on Veterans Affairs hear . . .

Lawmakers propose Internet Safety Act.(LEGISLATION)
Republican lawmakers want to enact a broad new federal law that would require all Internet service providers (ISPs) and operators of millions of Wi-Fi access points to retain user records for two ye . . .

Departing workers often take proprietary company data.(DATA SECURITY)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A recent survey shows that hen people leave their employer, many take proprietary company data with them. Nearly 60% of employees who quit a job or were asked to leave rep . . .

In Massachusetts: $14k too much for student records.(PRIVACY)
The Massachusetts public records division has ruled against Cambridge Public Schools' $14,000 charge for public information, admonishing the school district to charge a "reasonable" rate for a list . . .

UK's 30-year rule should be halved, inquiry finds.(GOVERNMENT RECORDS)
A recent inquiry has recommended that the United Kingdom's 30-year rule, which dictates when government records of cabinet minutes and private memos are released to the public, should be cut to 15 y . . .

Cologne archive building collapses.(ARCHIVES)
The six-story archive building in Cologne, Germany, collapsed in early March, claiming at least two lives and centuries of historically important records and artifacts. Cracks and groaning noises . . .

CIA destroyed interrogation tapes.(GOVERNMENT RECORDS)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The U.S. government recently revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) destroyed 92 videotapes in 2005. The tapes are said to have shown the interrogations of two . . .

Apples & oranges: recordkeeping principles for transforming business practices.(Cover story)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Despite having voluminous, detailed transaction records, regulators did not have a clear picture of the financial industry's health before its recent collapse and the econom . . .

The building blocks of a global records management program: What does it take to build a global, enterprisewide RM program? it s
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Implementing records management (RM) in just one division of an organization is no easy task. Now multiply that across countries, jurisdictions, business practices, cultures . . .

Selecting software for managing physical a electronic records: although most records are created electronically, physical record
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] During regulatory audits and litigation-related discovery activities, electronic records are a major focus of requests for information. Recordkeeping requirements, such as t . . .

Getting from point A to point B: what it means to take a federated approach.(BUSINESS MATTERS)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Among the many products available to help organizations simplify the challenge of managing their information, a sub-set of these will promise to take a federated approach to . . .

Guiding your organization through murky waters: defining your retention management program.(ANALYST CORNER)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In today's economic atmosphere, compliance and e-discovery concerns have prompted enterprises to seek guidance on records and retention management ranging from how to define . . .

An opportune time to prove RIM's value.(IN FOCUS: A Message from the Editor)
While most of the world is preoccupied with faltering economies and big-time bailouts, records managers know that the need to properly manage and preserve records at this time in particular must rem . . .

Obama Executive Order limits privilege for presidential records.(GOVERNMENT RECORDS)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One of President Barack Obamas first orders of business after moving into the Oval Office was revoking one of George W. Bush's most controversial orders involving presidenti . . .

Australian web filter plan criticized.(CENSORSHIP)
The Australian government is testing a nationwide web-filtering system that has been widely criticized as undemocratic. The plan will require Internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to t . . .

NARA opens 9/11 commission records.(ARCHIVES)
The National Archives has opened more than 150 cubic feet of records created by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States--known as the "9/11 Commission"--an independent, b . . .

Obama gets approval for 'first smartphone'.(INFO SECURITY)
U.S. security officials have approved a high-tech, spy-proof, $3,350 smartphone for Barack Obama so he can be the first sitting president to use e-mail. Media reports said the Sectera Edge, made b . . .

Cyber crime soaring in bad economy.(CYBER SECURITY)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The use of malware on websites to steal passwords and other sensitive information is skyrocketing, according to a new report from the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG). T . . .

SEC seeks e-records for investment advisers.(FINANCIAL)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Division of Investment Management is working on rule amendments that will require registered investment advisers to keep all t . . .

Federal regulations available online.(E-ACCESS)
The Office of the Federal Register has created the Electronic Public Inspection Desk to provide free, worldwide electronic access to public documents. For the first time in the 72-year existence of . . .

Beijing Olympic records closed until 2038.(ARCHIVES)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Hundreds of thousands of document files and electronic records documenting the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Paralympics have been transferred to the city's archives as "invalua . . .

Smithsonian moves toward FOIA.(FOIA)
The Smithsonian Institution, which has long operated outside the reach of The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), has implemented an FOIA-like policy. The policy includes many elements of the open . . .

Federal Court sides with Cheney over retention of VP records.(GOVERNMENT RECORDS)
In January, a federal judge ruled that former Vice President Dick Cheney has broad discretion in determining which records created during his eight-year tenure must be retained. U.S. District Judge . . .

Ohio Supreme Court ruling: e-mails are public records.(E-MAIL)
In a landmark ruling, the Ohio Supreme Court decided that electronic messages that address government business--including deleted e-mails--are records protected by the state's open records laws, whe . . .

U.S. Education Dept. updates student privacy rules.(PRIVACY)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The U.S. Department of Education has implemented new regulations meant to clarify when universities can release confidential information about students. The move is meant to . . .

Germany approves controversial law.(PRIVACY)
The German government has passed the "BKA-law," which gives the Federal Criminal Police (BKA) controversial extra powers to fight terrorism. Among the contested powers is the provision that allows . . .

Data breaches skyrocket in 2008.(DATA SECURITY)
The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) monitors five groups for data breaches annually (see chart). It found that the financial, banking, and credit industries have remained the most proactive gr . . .

UK data centers close to bursting point.(DATA STORAGE)
Data centers in the United Kingdom are close to a breaking point, with the majority now running perilously close to storage capacity, according to a recent report. Increased data retention legisla . . .

EU launches online library.(LIBRARY)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The European Union has launched a massive online digital library that promises to bring Europe's cultural heritage to the world. The Europeana online digital library--www. . . .

UK's archivist groups to merge.(ARCHIVES)
The United Kingdom's three leading archivist organizations--The Society of Archivists (SoA), National Council on Archives (NCA), and Association of Chief Archivists in Local Government (ACALG)--have . . .

Bush gone, but e-mail problems linger.(GOVERNMENT RECORDS)
Less than a week before the Obama administration moved into the White House, the Bush administration was ordered to turn over any electronic devices that may contain e-mails from between March 2003 . . .