Assessing the impact of ISO 15489 – a preliminary investigation

This article shares the results of a preliminary investigation into the impact of ISO 15489, the international records management standard, conducted between January 2002 and March 2003. Attendees at a series of records management and information management events were asked about their awareness of, initial reactions to and plans for using the standard. The results show a relatively high level of awareness of the standard within and beyond the records management profession and very positive reactions to its publication, despite any imperfections. Most encouraging of all was the range of plans for using the standard. As well as using it for policy/strategy development, to underpin records management procedures and to benchmark current practice, many records professionals plan to use the standard to raise the profile of records management within their organisations.