■i V
Facilitate
Grave of Frank Millar In
Zlllebeke, Belgium.
words I want children to repeat to their parents on the way
home from school, are these: Remember, Respect, Record.
What if, when you received an email from your bank or your
telephone company, at the bottom of the message was a line
of text? But instead of saying 'before printing, think of the
environment', it said 'before deleting, think of the future'.
How marvelous would that be?'
'We also need to create the tools to facilitate that preservation
and access. Records and archives professionals have developed
amazing tools for archival description, interpretation, and access.
But we have made those tools for ourselves as much as for
anyone. They serve our custodial environments, not the creators
of records. At the same time, a world of software developers
are creating systems that 'manage' documents and records,
but too often those tools include few or no requirements for
documentary authenticity or reliability. Archivists have to work
with these industry partners to design user friendly, effective
tools for records creation, preservation, dissemination, and use,
tools that protect the integrity of records throughout their life.
And then we have to share those tools, which means relin
quishing control. We have to become facilitators more than
custodians, so that we can help communities manage their own
records. We can then step in with custodial care when communities
cannot achieve success themselves, or when they wish to
contribute to wider social networks. If we help to create strong
tools, and we make people aware of the value of records for
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