Information management

Information management (IM) is the collection and management of information from one or more sources and the distribution of that information to one or more audiences.

The written word endures. Be sure to create it . . . and preserve it.
- National Archives and Records Administration, 1998

Quotes

Quotes are arranged in chronological order

Before 1980s

• The work of the information officer [should be] regarded as the natural dynamic extension of that of the librarian.
  • Palmer and Foskett (1958, p. 1495) as cited in: Alistair Black et al. (2012) The Early Information Society: Information Management in Britain Before the Computer. p. 41.

• 'Information management' is a term that is preferred to 'information retrieval' by System Development Corporation. Information management is defined as the establishment and utilization of effective procedures for controlling the generation, processing, flow, and use of information.
  • Government Reports Announcements (1966) Vol 41, Nr 9-12. p. 11.

• Information management is central to human development. No less is it important that man learn to improve his management of materials.
  • Stephen A. Rossmassler (1977) Materials information programs: an interagency review of Federal agency activities on technical information about materials : proceedings of a conference held at the National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, Maryland, April 16 and 17, 1974. (online) p. xvi.

• The role of information management is to mediate between information technology and information institutions to facilitate their effective planning, organization, control, and operation.
  • William White eds. (1976) LJ, Library Journal. Volume 101, Nr 1-8. p. 155.

1980s

• What is involved in information management is ordinarily not the "management" of substantial information per se — in the way that a censor or an Orwellian dictator would "manage" it — but the management of the information process from organization to ultimate use.
  • ARMA Records Management Quarterly (1980) Volumes 14-15. p. 40.

• Historically, information management has been a fragmented activity shared among the traditionally independent elements of an organization. Many of the critical data-handling activities (payroll, invoices, payments, inventories, etc.) of an organization have been located in the administrative or financial management offices. Automation of these activities has resulted in placing management responsibilities for computers and information systems in the office of an organization's administrator or controller. Since information-related programs also may be administered by other elements in an organization, in many instances a dispersed information management structure has resulted. For example, activities such as information and library services, statistical functions, information programs, and associated activities (policy, reports, management, procurement, and communications) may not be centrally managed. Often, responsibility for managing these activities and services is shared, and in some instances the jurisdictional responsibility may not be clear. As a result of this fragmented approach, information resources sometimes have been poorly managed and inappropriately used.
  The current rationale for comprehensive management of information-related activities is that these activities contribute to an organization's effectiveness. According to the general IRM concept, the IRM office within an organization should provide a central focus for all those information activities that support and serve the organization. Also, this office should reflect the organization's specific directions and goals and be consistent with good management practices. The objectives and goals of the IRM office should be formulated to provide a cohesive management framework consistent with organization requirements and values. The IRM policies and procedures should provide a foundation for developing the information architecture and relevant programs required by the organization.
  • United States. General Accounting Office (1981) Department of Agriculture Needs Leadership in Managing Its Resources. p. 21.

• For many companies and people who really ought to know better, information management is a term synonomous with data processing.
  • Information Management (1984) Vol 18, Nr. 1-3. p. 8.

• Information management is a term which is being used increasingly to express the changing nature of library and information work. Based conceptually in information science it represents a convergence of the role claimed for the information scientist with that of the librarian who is rapidly embracing new techniques in order to cope with the information explosion.
  • Mel Collier (1986) Microcomputer software for information management: case studies. p. 1.

• Information management is a term used by many to describe the myriad issues associated with managing an organisation's information resource.
  • Paul Feldman, ‎L. Bhabuta, ‎Simon Holloway (1989) Information management and planning: Database 87, 14-16 April 1989. p. 1.

• There will always be a large number of information management systems - we get a lot of added usefulness from being able to crosslink them. However, we will lose out if we try to constrain them, as we will exclude systems and hamper the evolution of hypertext in general.
  • Tim Berners-Lee (1989) "Information management: A proposal" CERN March 1989, May 1990.

• MIS plans compete with many other potential business investments and business problems for the attention of senior management. Consequently, a strategic planning methodology should not only produce a plan linked to business planning but also should create a persuasive case for its support. This article examines the state of the art in strategic planning in terms of enterprisewide information management (EwIM), which is a set of concepts and tools that enable MIS managers to plan, organize, implement, and control information resources to meet current and future strategic goals.
  • Marilyn M. Parker & Robert J. Benson (1989) "Enterprisewide Information Management: State-of-the-Art Strategic Planning." Journal of Information Systems Management Vol 6 (3). p. 14–23. Abstract

1990s

• In 1980 a law was passed called the Paperwork Reduction Act. It could have been called the Information Management Act of 1980.
  • Gifford D. Malone (1991) American Diplomacy in the Information Age. p. 114.

• Enterprise architecture [is] the Holy Grail of all systems people. Advanced systems textbooks tell you that every organization must have one. Several CIM program directors attempted to come up with this abstraction, only to fail. Only someone with a depth of understanding about how the Pentagon really works could come up with anything of use.
  • Paul A. Strassmann (1995). The politics of information management: policy guidelines. p. 53 & p. 422.

• Information management is a term which is only now starting to gain a place in common usage. IM is still confused with IT, probably as a result of the similarity of the terms. However, IM is much broader and includes all aspects of handling information. This includes the procedural and clerical aspects as well as any kind of technology that might be involved, not forgetting the most important aspect - the human element. IM includes the management of information in any form,
  • David P. Best (1996) The fourth resource: information and its management. p. 59.

• Information management is itself a field whose definition is unsettled. There is a broad field called information management that has some subsidiary elements, including IRM. Whether the information studies interest is with the whole or the part is unclear.
  • Ian V. Cornelius (1996) Meaning and Method in Information Studies. p. 189.

• Thomas Davenport proposes a revolutionary new way to look at information management, one that takes into account the total information environment within an organization. Arguing that the information that comes from computer systems may be considerably less valuable to managers than information that flows in from a variety of other sources, the author describes an approach that encompasses the company's entire information environment, the management of which he calls information ecology.
  • Thomas H. Davenport and Laurence Prusak. Information ecology: Mastering the information and knowledge environment. Oxford University Press, 1997 ; Book summary

• Information management is the direct progney of information technology. No wonder, some critics have identified it with information economics. The world of information management is a world of inputs and outputs, in which value additions are the ultimate criteria."
  • Girja Kumar (1998) Sociology of Information Management. p. 77.

After 2000

• The role of information management is to assist in collecting, organizing, validating, storing, and retrieving data and in preparing reports. An effective information management system is essential to any monitoring program...
  • Barry S. Mulder (2000) The Strategy and Design of the Effectiveness Monitoring Program for the Forest Plan. p. 89.

• The role of information management is a key enabler for demand chain management. It means capturing the market and end user demand information accurately, timely and in a relevant manner: capturing at all times the point of sales through all channels of inventory information.
  • Gideon Halevi (2001) Handbook of Production Management Methods. p. 129.

• The Information age is well upon us in seven major fields — learning, diagnostics, management, physical planning, finance, entertainment and communication.
  • Ramesh Kundra, ‎Usha Mujoo Munshi (2002) Information Management in the New Millennium. p. 643.

• It was to do with information management. The intention was to dramatise it.
  • Hans Blix, BBC TV's Breakfast With Frost, February 8, 2004.

• [The] company’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) should guide the rationale behind the development of EA models. In particular, distribution of IT related information and knowledge throughout the organization is emphasized as an important concern uncared for. Secondly, the lack of architectural theory is recognized...
  • Mathias Ekstedt (2004) Enterprise architecture for IT management: a CIO decision making perspective on the electrical power industry. Diss. KTH, 2004. Abstract.

• In the last decade most of the large industrialized economies have been shifting from a heavy manufacturing base to an information management base. Along with this shift has been stiff competition resulting from globalization.
  • Joseph Migga Kizza (2010) Ethical and Social Issues in the Information Age. p. 147.

See also

• Enterprise architecture
• Information
• Information age
• Information retrieval
• Information technology management
• Information theory
• Management