Information Revolution
Every fortnight Karl, Judi and Michael get together to discuss topics in information management practice that are relevant for today and the future. We’ll bring in other industry insiders to talk about what they’re doing, and how their practice is changing. Information management in government is in the midst of a long term transition. To be successful now and in the future, we have to be active participants in the day-to-day business of our organisations and in the design of the information resources that our organisations use. If we get this right, the next big gains in productivity and public good will come from us. It’s a revolution in information management – and we want everyone to be part of it. Hosted by Karl Melrose, Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ) and Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ).
Episodes
Why does Michael get a sinking feeling when people talk about information asset registers?
What are they for?
What's worse, boiling the ocean or having to retrofit the information you didn't collect?
Could tools help us?
And how many times can we fit the word "catalytic" into one episode?
With your hosts:
- Karl Melrose
- Judi Vernau
- Michael Upton
A few notes:
Treesize gets a mention: it's a piece of software for analysin...
Why limit yourself to functional classification?
How could you think describe the whole domain of what your organisation cares about?
... and why would you do that?
Judi mentions some work on an all-of-government ontology, link here: All-of-government ontology options paper – Archives New Zealand
With your hosts:
- Karl Melrose
- Judi Vernau
- Michael Upton
In this episode we reflect on the goodies we've gleaned since last November, when we first brought valuing information into focus. If you haven't gone back through the previous episodes, we've had great guests with a lot of insights! Today we pull out some highlights and ruminate on integrating lessons into practice.
With your hosts:
- Karl Melrose
- Judi Vernau
- Michael Upton
We were thrilled to have Chicago-based innovation fellow, data management enthusiast, and author Doug Laney on the Information Revolution podcast. He touches on the concepts of his books, Infonomics and Data Juice, and drops all kinds of good oil (refined or otherwise) on how to value and make more from the data, information, knowledge and wisdom your organisation holds (a little in-joke there).
With your hosts:
- Karl Melrose
- Ju...
Today's episode continues a conversation with Liz Wilson about data, documents, and the need for changes of practice to avoid data management cutting records management's lunch. Oh, and the nature of memory!
With your hosts:
- Karl Melrose
- Judi Vernau
- Michael Upton
Our first episode of 2024! We're back after a bit of a break, with the first part of a conversation with Liz Wilson about data, documents, (not) managing the container and some ruminating on how financial institutions work with information.
With your hosts:
- Karl Melrose
- Judi Vernau
- Michael Upton
Our last episode of 2023 continues the conversation with Matt Moore, talking about valuing something vs. pricing it, and how to make information assets tangible, visible, and tractable.
Matt Moore originally trained as a librarian. He spent years in the world of knowledge management and has also worked in learning and development, internal communications, marketing, sales operations, sales, consulting, IT management, project manage...
Continuing the theme of information valuation, we had Matt Moore join us to take us back to some fundamental questions of how organisations determine value and make decisions - what they do and what they say they do.
Matt Moore originally trained as a librarian. He spent years in the world of knowledge management and has also worked in learning and development, internal communications, marketing, sales operations, sales, consulting...
Last episode the Information Revolution hosts talked information valuation. This time we have James Price from Experience Matters sharing results of his research and compelling stories about valuing information, knowledge and data.
Some relevant links:
- The first piece of research James refers to: https://www.experiencematters.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Barriers-to-the-Effective-Deployment-of-Information-Assets.-An-Execut...
Karl kicks off the conversation about how we could get the right level of investment in managing information by valuing information assets beyond the old high, medium, low. And we announce a guest who has thought much more about this than any of us!
With your hosts:
- Karl Melrose
- Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ)
- Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
We're properly back back! Judi asks what we'd do if we were setting up a brand new organisation. Michael pushes the idea of establishing principles, not rules.
Karl mentions the Greiner growth model, here's one description of that: https://medium.com/@potherca/the-greiner-company-growth-model-ccc7e252b492
With your hosts:
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ)
Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
How do you measure effectiveness of a records programme? Karl and Michael talk collusive relationships, data profiles (stocktakes by yet another name?) time and motion, lining measurement up with real outcomes, using the skills we have, how the ever-growing volume of stuff actually affects us, and the discourse around recordkeeping.
Some links related to things we mention:
An ANAO report on Management of Information Assets: https:/...
Is knowledge management still a thing? Surely, but how does it relate to records and information management? Isn't making tacit knowledge explicit making a record?
With your hosts:
- Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
- Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ)
- Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
It's been as good as a year, so for our 21st episode the Information Revolution hosts take a minute to reflect. Do we still need a revolution in our profession? Are there things we've changed our minds about? Things we wished we said?
Somewhere along the way we talk about the idea of formally debating topics, of inviting people to be the devil's advocate, and of an "EDRMS" made up of many tools, not one monumental solution.
With yo...
Our 20th episode! The Information Revolution hosts dig into what it means to manage databases from a records and information perspective, with a focus on those that power business applications.
What if you keep the whole database? What if you pull reports out? What does it mean to maintain access? How do you decide? ... and how much of this is really only about databases?
With your hosts:
- Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
- Ju...
It's essential for information and records folks to collaborate, and the hosts of Information Revolution thought it was past time we had a real designer on the show. Amy Stoks from Good People talks about human centred design, two of the possible objectives of discovery, and hopefully avoids an existential crisis!
With your hosts:
- Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
- Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ)
- Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
We continue on from the last two episodes, where we talked about how EDRMS has failed for government and the opportunities and risks for managing information in Microsoft 365. Includes some chat about digital disposition / disposal and the range of reasons that government agencies keep information beyond typical appraisal criteria.
With your hosts:
- Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
- Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ)
- Michael Upton (Met...
If EDRMS has been a failed endeavour for government, how about managing information in Microsoft 365? What are the risks and opportunities? Time to talk M365 head-on.
With your hosts:
- Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
- Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ and UK)
- Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
Time to address something head on: electronic document and records management systems have failed, if we're talking about government recordkeeping in practice. Failure analysis is important for figuring out what we need to do.
We discuss what EDRMS is, what we think success looks like, what are some reasons that hasn't happened in real life - and, as always, would love to hear your thoughts!
With your hosts:
- Karl Melrose (Castl...
Judi takes point, talking about how to get the big picture and what that means. Also that it doesn't need to be a long, slow thing. How do you make useful tactical changes, creating a virtuous cycle AND have confidence that you're heading in the right direction? Start by understanding the information landscape.
With your hosts:
- Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ and UK)
- Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
- Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
Popular Podcasts
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.
A straightforward look at the day's top news in 20 minutes. Powered by ABC News. Hosted by Brad Mielke.