Wyoming Chapter
Association of Records Managers and Administrators
Chapter Meeting and Workshop on "Records Management and Information Technology Integration"
October 9. 2003 11:30am to 4:00pm
Natrona County International Airport Terminal-Hangar Room, Casper, WY

Members Present: Kristy Anderson, Ramona Christensen, Rita Dennis, Wendy Kinkade, Carol Mayfield, Paula Sutton, Barb Thomasee, Debra Yeager and Rich Wilson

Guests: Margaret Maione, Mike Eamon, Greg Rierson, Cynthia Green, Richard Russell, Debbie Leonard, Michael Wingert, Anthony Witbrod, Joan Fogle, Theresa Snyder, Janice Barratt, Mary Nicole, Glenda Irwin, Kermit Green, Chastity Summers and Tiffany Marzlaf

Speakers: Janie Wait, CRM, MBA, President and Director of Marketing, Intermountain Records Center, Casper, WY Craig Swain, Business Analyst, CPU Venturetech, Casper, WY (replaced by Rich Wilson, Electronic Records Analyst, Wyoming State Archives)

Panelists: Don Campbell, VP, Data Processing, Hilltop National Bank, Casper, WY Ron Sizemore, Manager, Computer Services, True Co., Casper, WY Jerry Nelson, Academic Affairs, Casper College Mike Hayes, CFO, Excal, Casper, WY Craig Henderson, Supervisor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Programs, Dept. of Employment, Casper, WY

After enjoying networking with people attending the conference over the lunch hour, Kristy Anderson opened the workshop by welcoming everyone in attendance, thanking the Casper members for organizing the workshop, and introduced Janie Wait from the Intermountain Records Center.

Janie Wait spoke on the topic of "Records Management Basics". She provided a handout on her presentation. Janie noted the differences among records management, information technology and information management. Some of the areas covered were "what is a record", source documents, originals, life cycle of records, essential elements and functions of the records, electronic records management, imaging technology management, strategies, objectives and benefits of a sound records and information management program.

Craig Swain was scheduled to speak on the topic of "Information Technology Basics". However, due to an emergency Mr. Swain was unable to speak. Rich Wilson, Electronic Records Analyst, from the Wyoming State Archives, graciously offered to fill in for Mr. Swain. Rich discussed an overview of electronic records. Rich stressed that over 95% of information is created originally in electronic format. With the expansion of the internet, you can deal with information right on your desktop. Employee productivity will increase by having this information available, better customer service and generate new revenue by making the information more efficient. The metadata needs to be managed along with the electronic record. Rich noted that with the constantly changing software, media migration is important. However, when the migration is done, there is almost always a loss of some information.

A Roundtable Discussion followed with panel representatives from the following businesses: banking, energy, education, manufacturing and government. Janie Wait acted as the moderator. Each panel member presented their accomplishments and major challenges with the world of technology. They discussed how these challenges effected their records management, migration of records from one electronic format to another, software challenges, and challenges with records being compatible with the electronic age of e-records.

Submitted by,

Ramona Christensen
Acting Chapter Secretary