Great Resources and Contacts: ARMA International

By Joe Howie

One of the hallmarks of true professionals is that they know where to go to find information that is useful to them and their organizations. For litigation support professionals that means, in part, being aware of ARMA International, which also happens to be a great source of professional networking opportunities.

ARMA, originally an acronym for the Association of Records Managers and Administrators, changed their organization name to ARMA International due to the change in environment and expanding scope of job responsibilities. ARMA members work in a wide variety of industries and include records managers, archivists, corporate librarians, imaging specialists, legal professionals, IT managers, consultants and educators. When discovery records are gathered in a large organization, there is a good chance that one of the key players on the response team or litigation readiness team is a member of ARMA. It is also likely that an ARMA member has also played a role in developing and maintaining the organization’s records retention and legal holds policies.

ARMA, founded in 1955, initially focused on paper-based records. Over time, that focus has expanded as new technology was introduced for keeping records such as microfilm, microfiche, computer-output microfiche and electronic records including e-mail systems and tape backup systems. The ARMA bookstore offers some of the best information about topics such as setting records retention policies for e-mails or electronic messaging systems.

• Procedures and Issues for Managing Electronic Messages as Records (ANSI/ARMA TR-02-2007), approved by the American National Standards Institute, 26 August 2007.
• Requirements for Managing Electronic Messages as Records (ANSI/ARMA 9-2004) approved as American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard on 7 October 2004.
• Digital Document Management by William Saffady, (ISBN-13: 978-1-931786-35-5)

ARMA International publishes The Information Management Journal, a bimonthly publication for professionals who manage records and information on a daily basis. ARMA was also a major contributor to the international records management standard, ISO-15489. 

References:
ARMA International: www.ARMA.org.

This article appeared originally in the April 2009 ALSP Update, the monthly publication of the Association of Litigation Support Professionals and is reprinted with permission. Read more about this nonprofit membership organization at www.alsponline.org.