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Information Quality: Who's In Charge?



In an article in the April, 2000 issue of _The Information Management
Journal_, Edwin Dietel explores the subject of information management
audits. From editing the ms., I came to realize two interesting things: 1)
the content of an audit should *also* feed into planing for an archival or
records program and 2) the area of information quality criteria could put
records professionals into positions much closer to the creation and use
stages of organizational information--rather than an after-fact-model.

My question is this: who--or which unit--in your organization is in charge
of the overall *quality* of information resources? What professional staff
make sure the information is, for example, accurate (includes credibile),
timely to need, relevant to need, adequate to current need, and engagable
by users (e.g., language, format, medium, format) needing the information?

Before you say "the people in the office creating the information are in
charge of quality criteria," consider this: do people who drive cars also
have to design them; are folks who fill out/process forms also tasked with
optimal design of the forms themselves? "No" in these and parallel
situations. (Most people who think anybody can design a form are right;
but it's almost universally a *very poor* form in terms of design and
information quality issues.)

Information reduces uncertainty in decision making. Information is a
precursor to knowledge. If the information is poor, how can decision
making or emergent knowledge be expected to be better? No computer-based
(or file-folder) information *can* be any better than what was put into
it. So who's in charge of information quality assurance at your shop?

Expectantly,
Mike

__________________________________________________________________________
*                                                                        *
*                  J. Michael Pemberton, Ph.D., CRM, FAI                 *
*                                                                        *
* Professor                      | Voice: 865-974-6509 Sch. of Inf. Sci. *
* School of Information Sciences | Fax:   865-974-4967 Sch. of Inf. Sci. *
* University of Tennessee,       |                                       *
*   Knoxville                    | E-Mail: jpembert@utkux.utcc.utk.edu   *
* 804 Volunteer Blvd.            |                                       *
* Knoxville, TN 37996-4330       | Alternate phone/fax: 865-693-8907     *
*                                                                        *
*    Executive Editor, _The Information Management Journal_              *
*    See our "Author Guidelines" at:                                     *
*    http://www.arma.org/publications/journal/author_guidelines.htm      *
*________________________________________________________________________*

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