From Passive Collection to Process Integrity: How Information Management Has Changed

The Early Days: When We Just Collected Everything

When I first joined the information management industry some 25-30 years ago, there was an assumption that information was simply what the business did. They produced it, we trusted it, and our job was to collect it. We never really questioned the information - we just collected it.

The Hungry Beast Era: When ECMs Needed Feeding

About 10-15 years ago, my work shifted quite heavily from passive collection to designing business processes. Our ECMs had become like these ferocious animals that we had to feed. There was this obsession to gather information, but we were still assuming the information itself was okay.

The Integrity Challenge: Where We Are Now

Now we're moving beyond necessarily designing the process. The focus is on integrity - designing systems and processes that have integrity. Going back to George Orwell's 1984 (which blew my mind when I first read it as a child), the idea that information is not permanent has become a real concern. The actual records we're dealing with are no longer independent pieces of evidence - they are subject to change.

Why Process Integrity Matters More Than Ever

If the process can guarantee the authenticity of the information, then we can have confidence that we have a reliable view of the past - whether that's yesterday, 10 years ago, or 100 years ago. But if the process that produced that information doesn't assure that degree of integrity, then the messaging becomes something very important indeed.

This blog post is based on an original AIIM OnAir podcast. When recording podcasts, AIIM uses AI-enabled transcription in Zoom. We then use that transcription as part of a prompt with Claude Pro, Anthropic's AI assistant. AIIM staff (aka humans) then edit the output from Claude for accuracy, completeness, and tone. In this way, we use AI to increase the accessibility of our podcast and extend the value of great content.