I spent Friday immersed in information management, courtesy of the last (of six) assignments for the Open University course B203 (Business Functions in Context). Up until I started this module every time someone mentioned the term ‘Information Manager’ I internally translated it to ‘Librarian’.
Generally I’ve not enjoyed B203 as much as the previous six course, probably because it is too wide (it covers Operations, Marketing, Finance, HR & Information Management). Also some of the text books are just dire, especially the Marketing and Information Management ones.
Information Management != Librarian
What I have learnt is that information management is not about being a librarian, nor an archivist. I’d already separated it conceptually from Information Technology (IT or ICT) because I’m a professional member of the British Computer Society and have spent more than two decades working with the latter. What I’ve come to understand is that I have also been an information management professional (more so than an IT professional because I tend to take a people and process based approach to things rather than a technological one).
A lot of the module is actually about the technology, which is a shame because the other side of it is harder to get your head round. Also the technical side of it evolves rapidly, whereas the way people process facts probably hasn’t changed significantly for millennia.
I’m not writing more right now as I need the material for my assignment, but you can see the notes that I am making for my exam (in early June) on my study wiki. Information Management notes
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