Lisl Zach
Assistant Professor
Louisiana State University
College and University E-Records Programs: Where are they now?

Bio

Lisl Zach is an assistant professor at LSU’s School of Library and Information Science (SLIS), where she teaches in the areas of knowledge management and organization of information. Before coming to LSU, Dr. Zach spent almost 20 years working in various areas of administration and financial management, as well as directing and conducting applied research projects to identify ways of satisfying the information needs of user groups as diverse as field artillery officers, nuclear power plant operators, and symphony orchestra managers, staff, and volunteers. Dr. Zach’s academic pursuits include studying the information-seeking behavior of decision makers and investigating ways of measuring and communicating the value of information to organizations. She is also interested in the relationship between the level of effort and/or resources invested in seeking information and the perceived importance of the task for which the information is being sought. Dr. Zach has carried out numerous benchmarking studies, user needs assessments, and information systems analyses, as a result of which she is familiar with many of the methodological issues related to qualitative research including various approaches to data collection, analysis, and presentation. Dr. Zach holds a PhD in Information Studies from the University of Maryland— College Park, an MBA from New York University, and a MSLS from the University of North Carolina— Chapel Hill.

Presentation Abstract

This session will discuss the goals, methods, and preliminary results of a NHPRC-funded project intended to document current e-records management initiatives and to propose possible best practices for the field. Data from a survey sent to 643 archivists and records managers will be reported. These data will provide a snapshot of where colleges and universities stand in their development of e-records policies and will serve as a basis for interviews with practitioners to gather further details.

The remainder of the session will be used to collect participant input regarding what categories of best practices would be most useful to archivists and records managers in helping them create policies and develop e-records programs. Participants will also be asked to prioritize these best practice to indicate which they believe would be most important in helping them meet institutional goals. This information will be used to structure the next phase of the study.