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Any records manager using ISO 15489 to develop a new program or evaluate an existing one should become familiar with the DIRKS implementation process

International standards are fast becoming a staple of records management programs and practices around the world. These standards make extensive knowledge and expertise available from seasoned records professionals for the benefit of the records management community.

ISO 15489-1 Information and Documentation - Records Management - Part I: General became the world's records management standard in 2001 and has been accepted as a model by many sectors. In the United States, for example, the National Archives and Records Administration has affirmed the standard. It also has been adopted by the National Archives in the United Kingdom.

There is an implementation document for ISO 15489: ISO/TR 15489-2 Information and Documentation - Records Management - Part 2: Guidelines. Any records manager using ISO 15489 - either in developing a new program or evaluating an existing one should become familiar with the related implementation process known as DIRKS (Developing and Implementing a Recordkeeping System).

Developing DIRKS

DIRKS: A Strategic Approach to Managing Business Information, also known as the DIRKS Manual, is a methodology developed in Australia for designing records management systems.

The DIRKS methodology was developed and tested throughout the 1990s as part of a project undertaken by Australian recordkeeping authorities and professionals to re-conceptualize records and recordkeeping. Other parts of this project included

* The development of the world's first best-practice recordkeeping standard, AS 4390, which became the basis for ISO 15489

* The defining of records as being primarily concerned with providing key evidence of business activity

* Drafting and implementing new recordkeeping programs and legislation

This project recognized how important quality recordkeeping would be in an increasingly digital world and was an attempt to rebrand and reposition recordkeeping in modern organizations. As Kate Cumming, formerly of the National Archives of Australia (NAA), stated in a presentation, "Records are not a by-product or adjunct to business operations; they are a key evidence of, and information about, business practice. Their appropriate management should be a fundamental business concern."

In 2000, the NAA, in collaboration with the State Records Authority of NSW, produced DIRKS as an online manual. It was to be an...

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