LGMA FOI, Privacy and Records Management Committee – Records and
Information Management Month
How will your Organization celebrate Records and Information Management Month this April?
Every April, records and information professionals in local government organizations come up with new and unique ideas to raise awareness and educate staff and leadership about the importance of information management within the organization. Their intention is to emphasize the significance and relevance of organizing and maintaining records and data to manage information efficiently and effectively.
Through the actions of members of ARMA (the Association of Records Managers and Administrators), Records and Information Management Month (RIMM) was first recognized in 1995, the goal was to draw attention to the importance of renewing the US Paperwork Reduction Act. ARMA International organized a luncheon in Washington, D.C. as part of the celebrations, with members of Congress and the executive branch in attendance. The observance grew in scope over time and Records and Information Management Month is now celebrated globally each year in April.
The LGMA’s FOI, Privacy and Records Management Committee members know it’s difficult to come up with new attention-grabbing ideas yearly to promote good records and information management, so this year we’re providing a curated selection of promotional ideas for you that they’ve used successfully that you can adapt and use for your own organization.
Robyn Biggar – Records and FOIPPA Administrator – City of Port Coquitlam
April is RIM Month. A work-friendly Records and Information Management Month, that is. Records managers across the globe are looking for ways to engage teams on managing their information. The excitement of naming,
filing, searching, and retaining records is peak excitement in the workplace – so how does one make it
even more exciting?
My personal favourite part of these types of celebratory months is the opportunity to educate, and I thought, what better way to educate folks than by using the latest technology: ChatGPT. If you haven’t already used this AI platform, you’re missing out on a great opportunity. It can save you time in generating ideas, including creative RIM Month activities for your organization!
Find Robyn Biggar's full post here!
Cobi Falconer – Access to Information and Privacy Director – City of Vancouver
The City of Vancouver’s Access to Information and Privacy office (ATIP) observes and promotes three events each year to align with international awareness campaigns including Data Privacy Week (January), Records and Information Management month (April), and Right to Know Week (September). During the month of April, ATIP will be commemorating Records and Information Management in the following ways:
Show what success looks like
First, ATIP will publish a case study describing the successful implementation of records management principles and best practices, including the centralization of electronic records in the City’s EDRMS, the application of standard naming conventions, consistent classification of records, protection of private and confidential records, and application of records retention policies. This case study will demonstrate what success looks like and will be published on the City’s internal site.
Contest
Second, ATIP will hold a contest, known as the “DRC Superstar Award”, which is a recognition program. A DRC is a Departmental Records Coordinator and responsible for ensuring their business unit is in compliance with the public body’s Corporate Records and Information Management policy. This recognition program aims to increase staff awareness about the records management support work that the DRCs provide as well encourage DRCs to remain in this role. Success will be measured in the number of nominations received and level of staff participation.
This annual event is designed to recognize the work carried out by the 275 designated departmental records coordinators to promote good record keeping in their individual work areas. This contest will run for three weeks and the “DRC Superstar” winner will be announced on the City’s intranet site and internal newsletter.
Promotion
Thirdly, this campaign will be promoting ATIP’s quarterly training sessions, ATIP’s annual report, and the City of Vancouver Archives.
The next quarterly training session is being held in April and includes highlighting the importance of good records management and what it means to be a part of an information compliance culture (which includes Privacy and FOI). Release of ATIP’s 2022 Annual Report will contain data on FOI, Privacy and records management metrics. The Archives will be celebrating its 90th anniversary with a social media campaign promoting its holdings from mid March to mid June, culminating in a proclamation on June 12. Follow them on social media @VanArchives #VanArchives90th.
Andrew Geider – Records and Information Management Specialist – City of Burnaby
The City of Burnaby's Records and Information Management Department thought Valentine's Day would be the perfect opportunity to raise the profile of Records Management with staff through a Records Management Knowledge questionnaire with a chocolate incentive for responding. The questionnaire was circulated to 82 employees of Corporate Services (Community Services; Legal; Marketing & Communications; and Legislative Services) in the first week of February so there was time to respond. The Department received 69 completed questionnaires and handed out 14 pairs of Lindt and Ferrero Rocher chocolates*...a very successful outcome, approximately 84% of possible respondents.
*14 pairs of chocolates because Valentine’s Day is on the 14th. It was a random draw. 1 pair of chocolates = one Lindt and one Ferrero Rocher
Read Andrew Geider's full post here!
Brandon Hill - Records Management Coordinator - Regional District of Fraser-Fort George
The Regional District of Fraser-Fort George initiated a Records Inventory of its offices, facilities, and
other sites starting on September 19, 2022. The LGMA Records Management Manual touches on conducting an Information Survey (5th Edition: Section 2.2, “Information Survey”, page 16).
In order to implement a Records Management Program, a “Records Inventory” is an essential tool. This article will provide some information for other local government organizations to think about if they are interested in pursuing a Records Inventory for their organization.
While not specifically associated with a Records and Information Management month promotion, this article is a useful blueprint for organization planning, presenting details such as review of the plan, the resources developed, the project roll out, the outcomes, both good and bad, as well as some lessons learned. Utilizing the raised profile of good records management during the month of April in local government circles to build knowledge in your own organization should make it easier to complete large records management projects in a timely and cost-effective manner.
Read Brandon Hill's full post here!
Kim Paterson – Records Coordinator – FOI Clerk – City of Vernon
Celebrating Records and Information Management Month April 2023
The City of Vernon ‘s Records Management Program is celebrating April as Records and Information Management Month by recognizing the important role that records play in our daily work.
The proper management of records offers many benefits to the organization. Compliance with policies, saving time, finding and retrieving records faster, minimizing the carbon footprint of records by reducing file duplication and paper waste.
Legislative Services in partnership with Information Services have created an “Email Contest”, that will promote “Best Practices for Email Management ” and reduce the network size in our data base.
Our goal is to spark good email habits each day!
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
And just in case nothing has tickled your fancy in the options provided above by the Committee members, here’s one final great idea that is publicly available on the web from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador:
The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and public bodies and their employees must comply with the Management of Information Act. The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) provides employees with policies, directives, standards, guidelines and best practices to support compliance. In April of 2017, the OCIO composed a Records Management Rant (RMR). They set up an April calendar with each weekday in the month containing a graphic and a one liner about a particular records management issue. Anyone could click on the calendar for the day of the month and read that day’s Rant. For example if you click on April 3rd, the rant is titled “Transitory Emails” and the tip is: “Remember to routinely dispose of emails that are transitory records.”
You can find the Records Management Rant page at Information Management Month, April 2017 - Office of the Chief Information Officer (gov.nl.ca)
