The gains records and information management can make by listening to IT.

Whether we like it or not, records management is an information technology field.

It always has been.

In many ways, it's the original information technology management field.

At some point though, people doing programming work, and managing computers and their infrastructure started to own the term 'information technology', and then just 'technology', and we got defensive about it.

For me, that's been to our detriment - rather than recognising that this other field specialises in technologies for recording and moving information around, and recognising how important that would be for us to succeed, we decided that they weren't us, or had stolen something from us, and we built a wall instead of inviting a collaboration.

It means that we've missed out on some really useful things - particularly as the field has grown more acutely aware that technology adoption isn't straight forward - something that EDRMS have provided evidence of in large volumes as they've gone from being systems used by professionals, to systems with users.

One thing we've missed out on, is decades of theory about how and why people use systems. The technology acceptance model is an early attempt (1989) to explain it, and to provide a model for thinking about why our system might not be getting used. The model is pasted in below, and there's a pretty good wikipedia page on it. While there are two follow up models that try and create a more complete picture, I think the original is the best, and give us the best shot at understanding why people aren't doing what we ask them to do.

To summarise the model, it says that whether people use a system depends on their forming an intention to use it. Arriving at an intention to use is based on their attitude towards using it, attitude has two key components - which how useful the system will be to them, and how easy it is to use (it's worth looking at the arrows in the model too - which highlight that a really useful system will get used, even if there's a terrible attitude to it).

Why is this important for records management?

When we tell stories about records management, we talk about long term accountability and history.

When we build records management systems, we structure them in ways that assume the current organisation doesn't exist anymore - which requires them to learn a whole new way to think about their information before they can use it.

Simply put, we ask people to do work that won't be useful to them, in a way that isn't easy.

The technology acceptance model predicts that a system designed like that won't get used.

I keep hearing that IT people 'don't get it' and much worse.

I think what's actually happening, is that they've been trying to give us the benefits of decades of experience building systems that get used and deliver gains to the organisation, and they're sick of being treated like they don't get it.

Maybe if we started listening to them about how we build our systems, we'd gain from their experience. Maybe that process would make them open to gaining from ours.

Technology Adoption Model graphic by Nippie - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14457270