HowtoManageInformation

Goodinformationmanagementsupportstheworkofyourorganisationbymaking
informationusefulratherthanconfusingandoverloading.Youshouldthinkabout
what information your organisation needs and how best to get it. Information
includesnewsletters,newspapers,reports,emailbulletins,leaflets,etc.
Thekeystagestogothroughtobegineffectiveinformationmanagementareset
outbelow:
1:Findingoutwhatinformationyouneed
Findoutwhatstaff,managementcommitteeandvolunteersneedtoknow,when
they need to know it, and in what format (e.g. by email, full text articles, verbal
briefings, postings on website, etc). This is an information needs analysis and
formspartofaninformationaudit.
Youcanfindoutaboutinformationneedsinanumberofways.Youcoulddevise
a questionnaire or you could sit down with people and talk through what they
need.Youneedtofindout:
Whatinformationtheycreateorholdthemselves
Whether they have a way of sharing the information with staff and
volunteers
What type of information they need. Bear in mind that what information
people say they want is not necessarily what they actually want or even
need.Trytogetpeopletobespecificandtothinkaboutwhytheywantto
seeinformationaboutthesubjectstheysaydo
Wheretheyusuallygofirsttofindinformationandwhy
Whether they have difficulty finding information and if so, whether this is
allinformationorinformationaboutspecificissues
Whatiscausingthedifficultyinfindinginformation(e.g.toomuchoroutof
dateinformation)?
2:Findingoutwhatinformationyouhave
Do an information audit to find out what information is actually held in your
organisation(e.g.journalsreceived,mailinglistssubscribedto,etc.)andwhohas
access to it. Compare your findings to the results of your needs analysis. By
doing this, you should be able to identify gaps in the information you have, as
wellasinformationthatyouhavebutdon'tneed.
3:Organisingyourinformation
Onceyouknowwhatyouholdandwhatcomesintoyourorganisation,youneed
tothinkabouthowtomaketheinformationeasiertofindanduse.Themethods
used will depend on the size and type of your organisation. For example, you
could bring all of the information held into one central place where it can be
orderedinalogicalmanner.Thesystemusedtoorganiseinformationinthisway
is called aclassificationsystem.For information about thissee the Further Help
section. But if you are a new organisation with no paid workers and no office,
setting up a central place to store information might be impractical. Another
optionistolisttheinformationeachindividualhasaccessto,andtomakethislist
available to everyone in your organisation so that they know who is likely to
know,ortobeabletofindout,aboutagivenissue.
Once you've organised your information for the first time, you need to keep it
organised.Thatmeans:
Makingsurepeopleknowwhattheyshoulddowithnewinformation
Keeping the information up to date. Not only should new information be
addedtothebodyofinformation,butalsoold,outofdateinformationmust
beremoved.Thisiscalledweeding.Youmightdothisonaregularbasis
orwhenspacedemands
Archiving. There may be information you want to keep but you do not
need ready access to on a daily basis. This can be true of financial
records,whichthelawcanrequireyoutokeepforacertainperiodoftime.
Youshouldstorethisinformationsafelyandsecurely
4:Dealingwithincominginformation
Now that you know what everyone needsto know, you need to makesure that
appropriateinformationgetstothem.Youcandothisinanumberofways:
If only one person needs to see a particular journal, it could be sent
directlytothem
You could scan incoming items for useful information, noting what you
find, compiling these notes into a list and sending it out to staff and
volunteers. This way, everybody has a summary of the latest useful
information,andknowswheretofindthefulltextofeverything
All information could come into the organisation through one person who
thenredirectstheinformationtothosewhoneedit
5:Understandingcopyrightanddataprotection
Thereare laws that applyto managing information, themostimportantofwhich
aretheDataProtectionActandcopyrightlaw.
Dataprotection:Ifyouholdinformationaboutindividualsororganisations
there arerestrictionsonwhat youcando with thisinformation. Thebasic
rule is that you shouldn't do anything with this information that the
individualsororganisationshavenotagreedto.
Copyright: Everything is automatically subject to copyright law. Authors
or creators of information do not have to do anything in order to make
somethingcopyrighted.Thebasicthingtoremember isthatyouneedthe
permissionoftheauthor,owneroftheimage,etc.inordertocopyit.
6:Workingoutthecostofmanaginginformation
Therearecostsassociatedwithmanaginginformation.Thesecaninclude:
Staff/volunteertimejournalsubscriptions
Space (to store information properly) IT equipment (depending on
methodschosen)
Internetaccess
However,therearefinancialbenefitstomanaginginformationwell.Forexample,
youmaynolongerbepaying for a subscriptionthatyouraudit revealedwasno
longerneededorstaffandvolunteersarenolongerspendingtimesiftingthrough
lotsofinformationtofindthebittheyneed.
7:Monitoringandevaluatinghowyoumanageinformation
Once you have set up your information system you will need to monitor and
evaluate it to ensure that the system keeps pace with the changing needs and
prioritiesofyourorganisation.Onewayofdoingthisistoregularlyconsultthose
peoplewhousetheinformationandaskthemabouttheinformationtheyaccess,
how useful it is and whether there is information that they want but do not
receive.Itislikeaninformationneedsanalysis.
Youmayalsoneedtokeepstatisticalinformationaboutthetypesofinformation
youkeepandwaysyoudistributeit.Forexample,youcankeeparecordofhow
manyemailbulletinsyousendoutandtohowmanypeople.
8:Furtherhelp
CVSMid&NorthBeds,
43BromhamRoad,Bedford,MK402AA.
Tel:01234354366.
Fax:01234347503.
Email:info@cvsmidandnorthbeds.org.uk.
Website:www.cvsmidandnorthbeds.org.uk
Reg.CharityNo.1091423CompanyLimitedbyGuaranteeNo.4312967
TheAssociationforInformationManagement(ASLIB)www.aslib.co.uk
DataProtectionInformationCommissionerwww.ico.gov.uk
TheCopyrightLicensingAgencyLtd(CLA)www.cla.co.uk
TheUKCopyrightService www.copyrightservice.co.uk
CreativeCommonsflexiblecopyrightforcreativework
www.creativecommons.org.uk
ReferenceBooks:
Information Management for Voluntary and Community
OrganisationsPaulTicherandMikePowellwww.dsc.org.uk 16.95
CVSMid&NorthBedshastheaforementionedbookinourreferencelibrary&
thiscanbeloanedtoCVSmembers
ThisisoneinaseriesoffactsheetsproducedbyCVSMid&NorthBeds,onsubjectsof
interesttovoluntaryandcommunitygroups.Itisintendedforguidanceonlyandisnota
comprehensivestatementofthelaw.