From Manual Practice to Automated Chaos

The Problem of Poor Naming Conventions

In our last post, we argued that traditional records management models are failing in digital environments because they assume staff will deliberately create and capture records into formal systems, when in reality most valuable records are either never created, poorly documented, or bypassed into informal systems due to time pressures and system complexity.

Compounding this issue is the poor application of naming conventions and metadata standards. Even when staff do attempt to capture records, inadequate or inconsistent naming makes information retrieval difficult. Without structured metadata or contextual tagging, records become effectively invisible within repositories, undermining their long-term accessibility and usability.

System Challenges and Discovery Issues

Information professionals frequently encounter systems bloated with poorly titled documents, lacking version control or contextual clarity, which significantly hampers enterprise search and discovery functions. This is further exacerbated by human error and misfiling, and a failure to capture file or store records at all, e.g. records sitting in individual email inboxes, or spread amongst several.

The Governance Gap in Digital Documentation

In the digital era, where documentation can, and should, be seamlessly embedded into business processes, the failure to generate records at the point of transaction or decision represents a significant gap in governance maturity.

The Critical Role of Metadata

Even when records are created, they are frequently not captured with adequate metadata, rendering them contextually opaque and disconnected from the broader business information landscape. Metadata, whether system-generated or user-applied is essential to make records findable, relatable, and useful over time.

The Cost of Poor Metadata Management

Without it, the intrinsic value of a record is diminished, and its potential to support business, legal, and historical needs is compromised. This gap between record creation and meaningful capture highlights the urgent need to refocus professional practice from implementing a single technological platform towards automation, supported by behavioural and cultural change.

The Need for Embedded Recordkeeping

A renewed emphasis on embedding recordkeeping into business workflows, supported by automation, intuitive interfaces, and behavioural design, is critical. Overall, the digital transition has challenged many of the assumptions that underpinned traditional records management.

Adapting to Real-World Organisational Behaviour

The profession must now move beyond outdated models and adapt its practices to fit real-world organisational behaviour. A renewed emphasis on embedding recordkeeping into business workflows, supported by automation, intuitive interfaces, and behavioural design, is critical.

Reframing Recordkeeping as Business Enabler

Recordkeeping must also be reframed not merely as compliance, but as an enabler of business performance, transparency, and knowledge continuity in a complex and evolving information landscape.

Coming Next: Understanding the technical challenges is only half the battle. In our next post, we'll explore how information management professionals can better communicate their value and overcome the persistent challenge of management apathy that has plagued the profession for decades.

This is part of a five part-blog series by Stephen Clarke MRIM, CSRIM and David Robinson. This blog series is based on the article "Future Ready? Information Management Needs a Makeover," which was first published in RIMPA Global iQ Magazine Vol 41 / Issue 1/ Jun 2025 (pages 18-23) by the Records and Information Management Practitioners Alliance (RIMPA).