A resolution for the New Year. (In focus: a message from the editors).

The beginning of a new year is an opportune time to make resolutions to change or to do something differently in the next 12 months and beyond. Some resolve to improve their physical or mental well-being by losing weight, exercising more, shopping less, or going back to school. But it is also a good time to evaluate your professional life to see what you can do differently to improve your job, your department, your organization, and your profession. It is a time to set goals for the future.

For 2003, records and information management professionals might consider this resolution: to build on the increased awareness of the strategic value of information management that emerged in 2002 and become even greater assets to their organizations.

This issue of The Information Management Journal gives you a head start by highlighting some technologies that can greatly improve your job and the way you do it. In light of a few infamous events that came to the forefront last year, protecting and preserving records and information is more critical than ever, and there are technologies out there right now that can help make these processes more efficient and effective.

For example, Ray Ganong provides a compelling argument for electronic vaulting as a clear improvement on traditional in-house data backup and recovery functions in "The Emergence of E-Vaulting." In "The Challenge of Web Site Records Preservation," John Phillips addresses the challenge of Web site records management. In the future, there will be an even greater expectation for 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year access to information, but all that data must be properly managed, protected, and preserved.

David O. Stephens' feature, "Protecting Records in the Face of Chaos, Calamity, and Cataclysm," discusses the importance of implementing a disaster-planning procedure that includes long-term digital data retention technology. If the corporate world learned anything in 2002, it was that disaster planning is of the utmost importance. And even here, technology is improving the profession.

There are also several other articles in this issue, including Britt Literary Award winner Robert Meagher's article, "Putting `Strategic' into Information Management," that will help you fulfill your resolution to become a greater asset to your organization.

So in 2003, resolve to pursue new technologies and build new skills, even if that only means reading more books and articles about the latest and greatest new systems and procedures. Keep reading the Journal for in-depth information and analysis about technologies that can help you to become a more successful RIM professional. Of course, no single technological solution currently exists that can immediately improve the job or the profession. But when one does come along, being in-the-know will ensure you are not being left behind. And that, of course, will help move the profession forward.