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Directing the records andinformation management (RIM) function in a business

organization is a little like herding cats.Even when the organization has anestablished program with publishedpolicies and procedures, it’s difficult tokeep everyone on the same path, movingin the same direction, toward the sameinformation governance and compliancegoals.

The “cats” are the organization’sbusiness units, or operating departments,each with its own culture, structure, andestablished processes (personality) andeach functioning somewhatindependently. The larger and morecomplex the organization (herd), themore challenging it is to exert influenceover the various units and persuade themto act and react as a unified body.

Cat metaphors aside, even largelyhomogeneous organizations like lawfirms—in which the largest chunk ofpersonnel (lawyers and legal assistants)comprises the core business unit—require a multitude of administrativeservices to support the legal work.Historically, however, recordsmanagement in law firms has focusedalmost exclusively on one record type:the client/matter file. Only in the past10 years—since September 11, theEnron/Arthur Andersen debacle,enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley, HurricaneKatrina, the Zubulake decisions, andother events focused media spotlight onrecords management and protection—have law firms begun to pay attention to records created, organized, used, andstored by support departments.

As RIM has evolved as a disciplineand a profession, so too have RIMoperations in legal organizations. Privatefirms are perhaps the most radicalexample of this evolution. Whereas in the recent past law firm recordsmanagement was a fairly low status/lowrespect function that concentratedmainly on filing papers and packingboxes, today’s large law firm recordsmanager may be a “C” level director of loss prevention, with access to thehighest echelons of firm managementand responsibility for multiple risk-related functions, including docket,conflicts, client/matter intake, datasecurity and privacy, and e-discovery.

The Emergence of InformationGovernanceDespite these positive developments,RIM in all but the most forward-thinking law firms remains specializedand fairly limited in scope. In general,law firm personnel, including thelawyers, do not fully understand what is involved in developing and running a comprehensive, legally-defensible RIM program.

Recently, however, there have beensigns that the legal industry is poised toturn a corner in this regard. The themeof LIT-CON 2011, a one-day conferencesponsored by ARMA International and the International Legal TechnologyAssociation held last month inWashington, D.C., says it all:“Information Management: The Road from Operations to StrategicInformation Governance.” Promotionalmaterials for the conference confirm that “the evolution from operationalrecordkeeping to strategic informationgovernance” in law firms and corporatelaw departments has been a long timecoming and that much education isneeded “to successfully navigate thischanging legal landscape.”

“Information governance” is, in fact, the current buzzword of the RIM profession. ARMA International’sMaturity Model for InformationGovernance (www.arma.org/garp/metrics.cfm), based on eight GenerallyAccepted Recordkeeping Principles(GARP), has dominated RIM education

and publications since its introduction inApril 2009. This model will eventuallymake inroads into law firms and otherlegal organizations, and the time is ripeto prepare for this future state of affairs.

This brings the discussion back tothe earlier cat metaphor. If law firms are to embrace information governanceas a best practice, they’ll need to broadenthe scope of their RIM programs toinclude types of records other than theclient/matter file, i.e., records createdand used by the firm’s supportdepartments (cats).

Many business units are commonacross all industries. These include tax,accounting (payables, receivables,billing), human resources (personnel,recruiting, benefits), facilities (mail,messenger, supplies, equipment, physicalplant), marketing, and informationtechnology. Other units, such asprofessional development, operate insome, but not all, organizations.

Finally, some support departmentsare uniquely associated with the legalprofession, e.g., client/matter intake,conflicts of interest, and docket/calendar. The remainder of this articlelooks at one cat—library services—andexamines in depth the various activitiesand responsibilities associated withintegrating this department into a legalorganization’s RIM program.

RIM 101 for Law LibrariansThis article is not meant to be a primeron organizational records management;however, certain RIM 101 concepts arecentral to understanding law librarianresponsibilities. One of these is theconcept of the records coordinator orliaison, which is defined in the Glossaryof Records and Information ManagementTerms (ARMA Int’l, 2007) as “theindividual responsible for coordinatingrecords management activities within a department and acting as liaisonbetween the department and the recordsmanager/administrator.”

Business unit RIM liaisons enableorganizations of all sizes—includinghuge, multinational companiesemploying 10,000 or more people—to hire one global records manager, with perhaps a few assistants. The RIMdepartment develops enterprise policies,procedures, and training programs, and the

Records Management Responsibilities of Law LibrariansIntegrating library services into a legal organization’s RIM program

By Lee Nemchek

© 2011 Lee Nemchek • image © iStockphoto.com

AALL Spectrum ■ November 201110

liaisons are responsible for implementingthese within the business units.

Clearly, then, the first order ofbusiness when integrating the libraryinto an organization’s RIM program is to appoint one or more RIM liaison forthe department. The liaison may be alibrary manager or senior librarian, butany library staff member possessingaptitude and desire can fill this role.

RIM-Related Reference WorkWhereas the liaison’s responsibilities are administrative in nature, a secondcategory of library-related RIM activityfalls squarely under the heading ofreference work. The two professionalactivities detailed below are uniquebecause they require a deeperunderstanding of RIM practice andprocedure than is common among lawlibrarians.

The first activity is reference workthat supports client matters in the area of records and information management.Such reference work may be extensive,depending on a law firm’s practice areas. In addition, ongoing collectiondevelopment in RIM to support thereference work is a necessity for firmsthat market RIM-related expertise, suchas the Information Governance Group atHusch Blackwell (www.huschblackwell.com/information-governance) and the e-Discovery Analysis and TechnologyGroup at K&L Gates (www.ediscoverylaw.com/promo/ediscovery-analysis-technology).

The other activity is legal research tosupport records retention. For hundredsof types of records that an organizationcreates and uses, there are statutes andregulations that dictate how long theserecords must be kept and, in some cases,where they must be kept and in whatformat. In the absence of such laws, every organization sets administrative oroperational recordkeeping rules to ensurethat business records are readily availablewhen they are needed.

A retention period is “the length oftime a record must be kept to meetadministrative, fiscal, legal, or historicalrequirements,” and a retention schedule is a comprehensive inventory of recordtypes, “indicating for each the length of time it is to be maintained and itsdisposition” (Glossary, 2007).

There are several different modelsused by organizations to obtain the legal and regulatory source material upon which a retention schedule is built:

• Hire a law firm to research and deliver the legal sources

• Hire a RIM consultancy toresearch and deliver the legalsources

• Subscribe to a retention rulesservice, such as FontisInternational’s Legal Data Service (www.fontisinternational.com/products/legal-information)or Information RequirementsClearinghouse’s RetentionManager and Retention Wizard(www.irch.com/products)

• Use in-house legal personnel• Use in-house library personnelThe options above are listed in order

of cost (highest to lowest); consequently,it makes economic sense for a legalorganization to use a combination of its lower-cost personnel resources—associates, summer associates, interns,paralegals, and law librarians—toresearch and document records retentionsources for the enterprise. Again,organizations using this approach must also evaluate, select, and maintainprimary and secondary source materials,print and/or electronic, to support therecords retention research.

Business Unit RIM LiaisonsAs stated earlier, RIM liaisons handle the lion’s share of department-level RIM work. For library department RIMliaisons, primary responsibilities are asfollows.

• Serve as liaison between thebusiness unit (library department)and the RIM department. Theliaison is the main source ofinformation about the records and recordkeeping practices of the library department.

• Provide training on RIM policiesand procedures to librarypersonnel.

• Identify library-owned vital recordsthat may be critical to the abilityof the organization to continue its operations without delay in the event of a disaster or otherbusiness interruption; assist in thedevelopment and implementationof protection strategies for suchvital records. Library-ownedrecords are those original or officialrecord copies that are maintainedby the library departmentthroughout their lifetimes(creation to final disposition).

• Serve as the business unit contactfor RIM emergency managementprocedures as these pertain tolibrary records.

• Identify and process library recordsthat may be appropriate for long-term storage in an offsite location(boxing and indexing).

• Coordinate the logistics ofdepartmental moves as thesepertain to physical records that are maintained in onsite filingequipment (shelves, drawers,cabinets, etc.).

• Work with RIM and IT to develop and implementappropriate classification schemesand filing systems for paper andelectronic library records.

• Conduct records inventories toidentify, categorize, and analyzelibrary-generated and/or library-owned categories of records.

• Identify the media format—e.g.,paper, binders, microforms, maps,photographs, digital images,electronic data, etc.—of officialrecord copies of business recordsand distinguish these fromduplicates, extra copies, workingcopies, and other non-officialrecord formats.

• Recommend retention rules forcategories of library records notcovered by statute or regulation.Developing retention rules involvesidentifying both the event thattriggers the beginning of aretention period—e.g., calendaryear end—and the period itself.

Selected Records Retentionand Disposition Resourcesfor Public-Facing LawLibrary Organizations

American Association of LawLibraries, Record RetentionPolicy www.aallnet.org/main-Menu/Leadership-Governance/policies/AssociationPolicies/policy-record-retention.html

Cleveland State University,College of Law and Law Library,General Records RetentionSchedule www.clevelandstate.edu/offices/recordsretention/schedules/collegelaw.pdf

New York State Archives,Government Records Serviceswww.archives.nysed.gov/a/records/mr_pub6_accessible.html

New York State Division of CourtOperations, Office of RecordsManagement www.courts.state.ny.us/admin/recordsmanagement/OCA/OCA_LawLibraries.pdf

Ohio Historical Society, LocalGovernment Records Programwww.ohiohistory.org/resource/lgr/libraryschedule.pdf

Vaughan, Jason. “Toward aRecord Retention Policy.” 33Journal of Academic Librarianship(March 2007): 217-227.

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Because retention of most library records is governed byadministrative/operational value as opposed to legal or fiscalrequirements, library personnelmust act as the arbiters ofoperational value.

• Subsequent to approval bycorporate counsel and officialadoption by the organization,implement the retention rules by applying them to print andelectronic record stores, bothretroactively (if applicable) andproactively. This activity includesensuring that final disposition ofrecords—destruction, transfer, orpermanent preservation—is carriedout securely and confidentially.

• Maintain the library department’sRIM program components andaudit its compliance with RIMpolicies and procedures. Theseactivities entail: —Informing the RIM department

about new library record seriesthat are not represented in theorganization’s retention schedule

—Reviewing new and revised lawsand regulations that may affectthe retention of library records

—Updating library policy andprocedure manuals with currentRIM language

—Notifying RIM of new/revisedlibrary policies and proceduresthat affect recordkeeping

—Periodically monitoring thedepartment’s record stores(paper and electronic) to ensurethat library personnel arefollowing classification, naming,labeling, and filing standards

In an information governanceenvironment, it is a best practice toinclude liaison duties in the library staffmember’s job description. Doing soensures that RIM is a valued, primaryresponsibility of the position and notlumped under “additional tasks as maybe assigned by supervisor.”

Library Department Records SeriesAs noted above, the library departmentmust inventory its records in order tocategorize and analyze them for retentionpurposes, and conducting the inventoryis an important liaison responsibility. It’seasier to inventory and schedule recordswhen a list of departmental recordtypes—referred to as record series—is available to use as a starting point.

Many law libraries associated withpublic-facing institutions or governmentagencies have a governing retentionschedule, including universities,associations, courts, district attorneys’offices, and law enforcement. Such

schedules are generally required by theparent institution or agency, and manyare available online (see the reference liston page 10). However, these schedulesare not especially specific orcomprehensive, and reviewing themdoesn’t provide much help in catalogingthe wide range of record series that lawlibraries create and use.

The annotated list of librarydepartment record series providedstarting on this page includes recordsfound across various types of lawlibraries, although it focuses less onrecords commonly found in the publicand academic sectors that are not uniqueto the legal environment. Examples ofgeneric library records not included onthe list are fund-raising records (grantproposals, gift, donor, and volunteerrecords, etc.), library board records(member rosters, committee meetingagendas and minutes, election records,etc.), and records documenting cooperativeinterlibrary network relationships.

In addition, for some official recordsseries that are owned by other businessunits, the list does not include duplicatesthat may be kept by the library. Oneexample of duplicate records commonlymaintained by the library is accountspayable records (invoices, purchaseorders, and payment vouchers). The list below is loosely ordered by libraryfunctional area.

• Materials inventory; list or reportproduced via catalog records or other means; important forinsurance valuation, emergencypreparedness/business continuityplanning (BCP), and taxdocumentation; may be considereda vital record for the librarydepartment (although not vital for the enterprise).

• Offsite storage inventories ofinactive library materials storedapart from the organization’sprimary library space, e.g., acommercial vendor warehouse or garage-level storage; specificallyfor organizations that do not havea centralized records managementdatabase—either company-ownedor vendor provided—that capturesoffsite storage documentation.

• Purchase and sale records of usedlibrary inventory (both referencematerials and equipment).

• Tax/insurance valuation records;documentation of formalcollection valuation activityconducted pursuant to an internalfirm or external agency audit.

• Office sets distribution lists.• Periodical/current awareness

distribution lists.• Automation documentation,

sometimes referred to as a systemsmap; inventory of hardware andsoftware purchased or licensed for the benefit of the librarydepartment, including current and superseded user manuals.

• Web development records for libraryportals and internet pages, bothinternally and externally facing.

• User login ID and password listsfor systems and databases managedcentrally by the librarydepartment; may be considered a vital record for the enterprise.

• Reference request work papers and final deliverables.

• Budget work papers and finaldeliverables.

• Reports and proposals to seniormanagement.

• Library policy and proceduresmanuals.

• BCP plans and implementationprocedures; records of BCP testing performed by the librarydepartment and/or emergencypreparedness protocols that areunique to the library department.

• Space planning records;documentation of originalconstruction and build-outs oflibrary space, including sketches,blueprints, space planning andarchitectural meeting notes, etc.

• Vendor contracts.

RIM and InformationGovernance Contacts for Law Librarians

American Association of LawLibraries, Private Law LibrariesSpecial Interest Section,Records/Conflicts ManagementGroup www.aallnet.org/sis/pllsis/Groups/records.asp

International Legal TechnologyAssociation, Risk and RecordsManagement Peer Groupwww.iltanet.org/MainMenuCategory/Members/PeerGroups/RiskRecordsManagement.aspx

Special Libraries Association,Knowledge ManagementDivision, Records ManagementSection www.sla.org/content/community/units/divs/index.cfm

ARMA Internationalwww.arma.org

(continued on page 19)

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records management continued from page 11

memorialsAALL Spectrum has been advised ofthe deaths of Scott L. Fisher andSandy Lamar.

Mr. Fisher received his bachelor’sdegree from Kean University in 1980and his master’s from RutgersUniversity in 1983. He joined AALLthat year and began his career workingin law firm libraries; he most recentlywas director of library services atMcCarter & English, LLP, in Newark,

New Jersey. Mr. Fisher was a long-time member of the Private LawLibraries and Social ResponsibilitiesSpecial Interest Sections.

Ms. Lamar graduated magna cumlaude from New England Law in 1984 and, after working several yearsin private practice, became part of the library’s fulltime staff in 1989, the same year she joined AALL. Lamar served as the New England

Law/Boston Law Library’s computerservices reference librarian.

AALL Spectrum carries briefannouncements of members’ deaths in the “Memorials” column. Traditionalmemorials should be submitted toJanet Sinder, Law Library Journal,University of Maryland At Baltimore,Thurgood Marshall Law Library, 501 W.Fayette Street, Baltimore, MD 21201-1768; jsinder@law.umaryland.edu.

• Vendor correspondence, e.g.,account reconciliation records,complaints, returns, etc.

• Project files.• Request for proposals (RFPs) and

RFP responses from both acceptedand rejected vendors.

• Third-party consultantdeliverables.

• Incoming and outgoing personnelchecklists documentingonboarding and separationprocesses as they pertain to thelibrary department.

• Library manager’s HR files;unofficial employee-relatedworking files kept by the librarymanager outside of the HRdepartment.

• Library manager’s recruiting files;records and notes created by thelibrary manager (not the HRdepartment) for library personnelrecruiting purposes; may be officialor unofficial.

• Activity metrics, e.g., number ofreference requests received andcompleted, number of interlibraryloan requests received andprocessed, new titles purchased,etc.

• Training records; documentationof training provided to bothlibrary staff and the library’s userpopulation.

• Library personnel professionaldevelopment records.

• Continuing legal education (CLE)records; depending on the level ofinvolvement of the librarydepartment, may includeattendance tracking records,authorized providerdocumentation, and presentationmaterials.

• Historical/archival records andartifacts; anything safeguarded bythe library that documents thehistory of the organization or thathas specific historical significance/value to the organization or any of its personnel, to the legalprofession, or to a specific locale(city, county, state), including anitem inventory/index.

• Archive of published work by theorganization’s personnel (books,articles, and presentations) and an item inventory/index.

• Library publications (internally-produced): newsletters, bulletins,pamphlets, brochures, pathfinders,reference guides, bibliographies, etc.

• Professional literature: law libraryjournals, magazines, newsletters,association publications,conference binders/disks, etc.

• Public relations recordsdocumenting promotions,contests, exhibits, and similarlibrary marketing initiatives.

• Awards, press coverage, anddocumentation of other specialrecognition won/earned by thelibrary department or individualstaff members.

• Feedback and survey records: user satisfaction surveys andrecords from other polling andinformation gathering activities;complaints; unsolicited feedback(positive and negative).

• Department administrationrecords: staff meeting agendas andnotes, committee meeting notes,calendars and call logs, shiftcoverage records, generalcorrespondence and internalmemos, social events, holidaycards, and courtesy gifts, etc.

• Copyright permission requestrecords.

• User account records.*• Circulation records.*• Interlibrary loan records.*• Computer-Assisted Legal Research

(CALR) usage reports andhistorical metrics.*

* For certain types of law libraries,these records may contain non-public,personally-identifiable information and,consequently, may be subject to privacylaws.

ConclusionAs law firms of all sizes continue toadopt corporate management models, it is advantageous for law librarians toposition the library as a business unitwith a role and responsibilities that gobeyond the traditional provision of legalinformation services.

However, the responsibilitiesdiscussed in this article are in some waysonly the tip of the RIM iceberg. Addingan information governance componentto a law librarian’s already-packed full-time job should not be undertakenlightly, but one benefit of doing so isgetting the library’s recordkeeping housein order.

Librarians interested in increasingtheir knowledge of RIM and informationgovernance in the legal environment willfind assistance readily available throughprofessional association education,publications, and networking. ■

Lee Nemchek (lnemchek@oaktreecapital.com) is vice president ofglobal records management at OaktreeCapital Management, LP, in Los Angelesand previously was a law firmlibrarian/records manager for 25 years.