Information education in the 21st century: to stay competitive in today's business environment, information professionals will need to broaden their knowledge through more comprehensive educational tools. (Career Path).

The contributions of educational programs to any profession are important. Among other things, they help determine the nature and content of professional fields, offer aspiring practitioners courses that impart theory and best practices, carry out research that improves the knowledge base of the field, produce publications that enrich the field, and award degrees that signify mastery of content. Effective educational programs are even more important in a field such as records and information management (RIM), which is steadily changing, expanding, becoming more complex, and requiring a broadening array of knowledge/skills/abilities for entering professionals.

At the least, today's RIM professionals need

* subject-area expertise (e.g., the work of their organizations)

* leadership and management skills to develop and sustain flexible, effective programs (e.g., understanding the direction of their industry and their organization)

* aptitude for thriving on change, ambiguity, and inconclusiveness 

* flexibility to grow, change, and refine or modify the career path over the years (e.g., the ability to move with ease from one industry to another and from one type of professional service to another)

* skills to conceptualize and develop insights, strategies, and approaches as needs change

* well-developed analytical skills (e.g., research, understanding of financial issues, cost benefit analysis)

* instinctive inclination toward management, partnership, and facilitation (e.g., teaming, coaching)

* ability to deal with new creator/user expectations for information (e.g., easy and nearly instantaneous access to needed information)

In the past, many people became records managers without formal training and learned on the job. That approach has been made obsolete as records management evolved and broadened into RIM and thus became steadily more complex and demanding. For that reason, there is a need for a concerted effort to upgrade educational requirements and expand offerings. However, establishing educational expectations is challenging; consider just a few complications:

* E-government and e-business rely on well-managed digital information, but their expectations and strategies are in flux. "If you look at the Internet technologies, for example, there are business methods that are being pioneered, Web-based techniques, and infrastructure, and they are tumbling out so fast that Approach M is barely beginning to be deployed when a better idea -- M + 1 -- comes along and says, Don't bother with that. Deploy me," explains Intel chairman Andrew Grove in The Mind of the CEO.

* The characteristics, and even the name, of the field are in flux: records management, records and information management, and strategic information management are all terms and concepts being used. Because there are few degree programs, no educational program certifying body has yet been established. This situation means that RIM education must often be found within the curriculum for other degrees (e.g., business administration and library/information science). ARMA International's recent RIM Industry Competency Requirements may provide some content for courses and perhaps the basis for eventual certification of courses or educational programs.

* The information field is fluid, dynamic, and mutational. Distinctions among records managers, archivists, librarians, knowledge managers, and others are blurring. New fields or subfields keep emerging and asserting their distinctiveness, such as attention management ("focused mental engagement on a particular item of information" to select and make optimal use of pertinent information) and knowledge commerce (a "convergence of practices" from knowledge management, e-commerce, and Web-based marketing).

* Expectations' keep growing -- with an increasing demand. Even for information management modestly defined, the range of needed expertise may include developing information strategies that fit enterprise needs; promulgating policies for confidentiality, privacy, preservation, and the proprietary interests of valuable information; ensuring data standards and metadata; controlling costs; assisting customers to become skilled information users; and assuring that technology fits current and future needs.

* Defining and explaining what we do and why it matters are major challenges. Today's work transcends records and information management as it was conceptualized just a few years ago. The Special Libraries Association asserts that its professionals add value to information, support productivity, and "... do far more than locate and collect data. Using the Internet and other current technology, they also evaluate, analyze, organize, package, and present information technology in a way that maximizes its usefulness."

What, then, is the best approach to preparing the talented, versatile, effective, change-adept professional records/information manager of the future? Perhaps the most promising educational venue for advancing the field is graduate education offered by schools of information science or information studies. These schools, many of which began as exclusively library science programs, are gradually setting appropriate high standards for RIM education. It seems likely that a master's degree will become the degree of choice for many of the most demanding and rewarding jobs in RIM -- it is already required in cognate fields, such as archives and library science. The schools keep evolving in response to employer interests, changing technology, and other forces.

The most dynamic and influential information schools have several traits:

Broad, dynamic, progressive mission. These schools are attuned to current and future institutional information management needs. The program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for example, "is designed to prepare students to contribute to the design, development, and maintenance of information systems and networks; to provide leadership in the development of new technologies and new applications relating to the delivery of information to users; and to demonstrate a theoretical knowledge of information science, including ... information storage and retrieval, systems science, and the social, political, and ethical implications of information systems."

Focus on shifting institutional information management challenges. The strongest schools monitor and respond to change, especially current and future use of digital information in institutions. "[O]ur focus is on users and user information needs as a starting point for integrating information and information technology into organizations," notes The University of Syracuse. Information services, systems, and technology are discussed in the context of institutional needs. "An understanding of how organizations work is essential because most people work and therefore use information in an organizational setting."

Frequent evaluation, analysis, revision, and updating of courses. These schools often revise their "core," or required, courses and keep their specialty course offerings fresh to ensure that they will give students the perspectives, versatility, and expertise they need to do well in the complex environments in which they will operate. Some offer interdisciplinary programs that include courses from computer science, business, and other areas.

Continual engagement with the field. The best schools use guest lecturers and expert adjunct professors to bring current insights and encourage students to do internships or field studies. Their professors are actively engaged in the field through research and publications; consulting; and giving papers, serving on committees, and holding leadership positions in professional associations. They are change agents, advancing the field even as they are preparing future professionals.

Records management in context. The most progressive schools offer records management specializations in the context of broader, rich information studies programs and relate records management to other areas. For instance, the University of Pittsburgh has a course in "Records and Information Resources Management" that covers records management well but also imparts an understanding of organizations, introduces the basic concepts of organizational theory, and relates records management to other information professions.

Programs of study in information leadership. The University of Michigan's School of Information is a model of innovation. It has one of the strongest archives and records management programs in the nation. Its Information Economics, Management, and Policy specialization is worthy of attention as a future-focused program that draws on the resources of Michigan's Schools of Law, Public Policy, Business, and Computer Science to "propose answers to the tough new questions confronting the networked society." (For example, does information technology encourage or impede information equality? What business models work for information commerce, and how should information goods be priced?) The program emphasizes research and features such courses as

* Managing the Information Technology Organization

* The Information Revolution: A New Political, Economic, and Educational Context for Americans

* Information Technology

* Emerging Law

* Applied Policy

* Management of Specialized Information Services

This program is intended to give students "the problem-solving skills that information-rich organizations require."

These graduate schools and others that are preparing students for mastery of information management need to work closely with professional associations, such as ARMA International, on

* continuing to define, professionalize, and lift the level of the field

* offering courses that blend theory and practice but are progressive and geared to emerging needs

* developing future leaders of the field

Educational programs and professional associations, working in tandem, can shape the future of records and information management through preparation of people who are technical experts, entrepreneurs, and potential leaders of tomorrow.

At the Core

This article:

* Identifies the most promising educational venue for records and information management (RIM)

* Elaborates on coursework that directly relates to RIM

Read More About It

Association for Library and Information Science Education at www.alise.org

Center for Technology in Government. Insider's Guide to Using Information in Government. Albany: Center for Technology in Government, 2000. Available at www.ctg.albany.edu/guides/usinginfo.

Davenport, Thomas H. and John C. Beck. The Attention Economy. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2001.

Dearstyne, Bruce W. "Education for the Future of the RIM Profession." InfoPro 2, no 1 (March 2000), 22-24, 26.

Garten, Jeffrey E. The Mind of the CEO. New York: Basic Books, 2001, 32-33.

Pemberton, J. Michael. "Records Management Education: In Pursuit of Standards." Records Management Quarterly 28, no 3 (July 1994), 58-62.

RIM Industry Competency Requirements. Prairie Village, KS: ARMA International, 2000. Available at www.arma.org/members/index.cfm (available to ARMA International members only)

Skyrme, David K. "K-Commerce: Profiting from Knowledge." Available at www.skyrme.com/insights/26kcomm.htm.

Special Libraries Association (SLA), "Special Librarians: Putting Knowledge to Work." Available at www.sla.org/content/SLA/professional/meaning/what/.

Syracuse University, School of Information Studies at www.istweb.syr.edu/general/about/information.shtml (provides general information about the School of Information Studies)

University of Michigan, School of Information at www.si.umich.edu/academics/ (describes coursework for the master of science in information and its specializations, including information economics, management, and policy)

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Information and Library Science at www.ils.unc.edu/html/2_masters_programs.shtml (describes requirements and course work for master of science in information science degree)

University of Pittsburgh, School of Information Sciences at www2.sis.pitt.edu/~rcox/lis2220.htm (includes syllabus for fall 2000 course Records and Information Resources Management)

U.S. News at www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/beyond/gradrank/gbinfos.htm (includes a ranking of the best library science schools)

Bruce W. Dearstyne, Ph.D., is a Professor at the University of Maryland's College of Information Studies where he teaches courses in archives and records and information management. He has more than 25 years' experience in the RIM field and is the author of Management of Government Records and Information (ARMA International, 1999). Dearstyne may be contacted at [e-mail].