This research seeks to determine the extent and direction of computerization of records systems in businesses with identifiable records departments. The data collection methodology was on‐site interviews and inspection of facilities in ten businesses selected from cities with populations of more than 100,000 in the western United States. The findings indicate that records managers are rapidly installing computer programs for tracking records. There was little evidence that traditional paper records were being moved to a digital format though the possibility was mentioned frequently. Records management and data processing departments cooperate, but no trend to integrate them is evident.
A national survey of records managers on the topic of computerization of their operations yielded surprising results. An overwhelming 92.4 percent reported that they were actively supporting computerization at present or planned to do so within the next year. The primary nature of the computerization was the use of microcomputers to track and manage physical, usually paper, records. The degree of computerization is related to the volume of records managed and the attitude of the company toward records management. The computerization of records management is only a few years old, yet the change has been rapid. Our findings indicate that the next step of Document Image Processing (DIP) where the records are also stored in a digital format is already underway and may proceed as fast as the first stage.
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