Buried Alive and For The Record. (Video Reviews).

Fear is not one of our nobler emotions. It can, however, do absolute wonders in getting one's attention or in motivating people into action. For those records and information managers who have difficulty getting the attention of senior management to records management's values, these two video productions can be very important delivery vehicles.

Buried Alive: Document Retention and For the Record are two well designed, informative, and practical video productions from Commonwealth Films of Boston. Each emphasizes various aspects of business practice, legal compliance, and information security. Of clear value in training all new employees, these videos should definitely be shown to senior management and corporate counsel.

Both videos are of the docudrama genre, which makes use of actual events and reported problems in managing corporate records. Both focus on the need for systematic retention and disposition of documents according to policies and procedures developed by professional records managers with knowledgeable legal assistance. In following the actions of corporate staff in the face of eminent legal action, some 20 records management issues are exposed that can easily arise in a situation where there is a mismatch between an organization's records management program's policies and procedures and the organization's actual practices.

Both videos feature high-quality productions that make good use of the knowledge of several records management consultants and practitioners. In each, there are effective production values and a useful balance of credible characters, dialogue, action, narration, and reinforcing captions. A lot of information is coherently presented in context in a relatively short time.

There are some differences between the two videos. This is caused, in part, by the difference in approach to records retention in a product liability situation (Buried Alive), as opposed to production of records for approval of a corporate acquisition (For the Record). The latter also stresses how the managerial and economic benefits of an effective records management program go hand in hand. Buried Alive centers on faulty records practices that create trouble in a pre-trial discovery context. For the Record examines more issues related to computer-based recordkeeping (e.g., e-mail and databases) than Buried Alive does.

Unlike videos rented for home use, these productions are fairly expensive to buy. However, use by records management, corporate counsel, and auditors for training and orientation would help justify the costs. Both productions are also available for rent and may be previewed for selection consideration. (Media used for previewing show a "not for training" sign throughout.) These productions are available in both videotape and CD-ROM formats.

Any records manager who needs to awaken management to the values of records management or who needs to sensitize employees to the importance of proper records management would find these productions useful in more ways than one. By presenting a generally dry topic in a visually interesting manner, the videos set the right tone for training. Several managers have reported using Buried Alive at the beginning of presentations on organization-wide records management programs and then using For the Record when introducing electronic records management concerns into training sessions. The videos and their frightening messages help draw attention to the need for records management when more traditional economic arguments fail or need a boost.

ISSUES COVERED IN BURIED ALIVE       ISSUES COVERED IN FOR THE RECORD

Starting a document                  Understanding records as an asset
retention program
of the organization

How documents can be                 Making records readily accessible,
discovered even if                   eliminating personal filing
a copy has been purged               systems
from the files

Why redundant documents              Reducing paper and electronic
do more to harm than help            record clutter

The value of centralized and         Reducing storage costs and
off-site storage                     freeing up computer memory
of inactive records

Problems faced when                  Ensuring compliance with
on employee confuses                 regulatory and statutory
company records with                 requirements
personal property

The importance of                    Records retained strictly
systematic, scheduled                according to the organization-wide
document destruction                 records management policies

The importance of an order           Records organized in a systematic,
to stop destruction                  logical manner, not from a
of documents in the face             personal point of view
of imminent legal action

The negative inference               Ongoing monitoring or auditing
when gaps in records                 of retention compliance
are noticed
                                     The importance of having a
                                     working disaster recovery plan

                                     Problems with cavalier use of
                                     e-mail

                                     Computers to be treated as
                                     organization-owned information
                                     facilities

                                     Legal and clerical costs of poor
                                     records practices

J. Michael Pemberton, Ph.D., CRM, FAI, is Executive Editor of The Information Management Journal. He can be reached at [e-mail].

TITLES: Buried Alive and For the Record

DISTRIBUTOR: Commonwealth Films

LENGTH: 23 minutes and 21 minutes respectively

PRICE: $707 each ($637 ARMA members)

SOURCE: ARMA International Bookstore at www.arma.org or 888-241-0598