Information Handyman articles

We’ve all seen them, those swish looking professional sites featuring regular updated articles that everyone is always linking to and which seem to attract all the traffic. Maybe you’ve a pile of content itching to be let loose with your creative juices or you’d just like to show your family what you’re up to without looking like an amateur - see Freddie the Magnificent for an example of that. Either way, here’s how to set up a blog that looks as professional as punch and will hardly cost you a dime. First thing is to decide on a domain…

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Most of us are aware of the chilling environmental catastrophe lurking around the corner if we don’t do something drastic now to lesson our tread on the planet’s fragile ecosystem. Here are some no-nonsense, effective tips to not only alter your behaviour to save the planet but make considerable long-term cost and efficiency savings for your organisation’s accounts too.

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Further to the post below, the DCA recently issued the following announcement:

At 10am today, 16th December 2006, the Department for Constitutional Affairs published the consultation document ‘Draft Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2007′.

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Bright, enthusiastic and driven to bring information management to the fore in the minds of the nation’s leaders, Natalie Ceeney, the youthful ‘Keeper of the Records’ at The National Archives delivered an inspirational opening address to the delegates of the twenty-first Records Management in Government conference in Newcastle on the 4th of October, 2006.

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Disasters in a records management context involve situations that could cause irrevocable damage to an institution’s records. As far as both paper and computer records are concerned, disasters can range from a small fire setting off some sprinklers to the complete flooding of a basement where an organisation’s records are stored, to a slow leak into a vital records holding which ruins an important client’s records. The loss of such records may sound somewhat trivial, but the resulting legal action can potentially be catastrophic.

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There are a number of sources for training seminars, workshops, conferences and other events in UK knowledge, records and information management sector, but none seem to bring them all together. Enter the Information Handyman’s Information Calendar:

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A help file to assist you with using the free Freedom of Information Act monitoring software available from the ‘FOI Monitor’ link above.

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A help file to assist you with using the free Information Auditing software available from the ‘Information Auditor 2.3 link above.

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Many of us find the data and information we store to be in all sorts of areas, be it in the basement VHS collection, on the bookshelf, emails on the home computer, or spread out over an organisation in various silos. If we wanted to access all the information we had on hiring staff we’d get ourselves into an awful pickle hunting through each of the informational areas.

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Let’s start by asking what is an information policy? Though organisations will vary on the scope of a policy, it is generally a document that has been approved by senior management that covers how employees create, access, store, and dispose of information whether of a personal or business nature. It should cover all the information assets held by the organisation, including emails, and be easily accessible to all staff - perhaps on the intranet or held within the ‘policy’ folder of the business. Aspects of it could also be available for the public, particularly if your organisation is subject to freedom of information legislation. More..