DIRKS
is a cradle to grave, lust to dust, very
elegant eight step methodology for creating world class record
management services. DIRKS is
based on functional analysis.
What this means is everything is based on the key business
activities that your organization performs in order to fulfill its'
mandate.
DIRKS suggests determining these
activities in a hierarchical manner. The top level is considered
the FUNCTION. The function is
simply what your organization does at the highest level.
In order for the organization to do
what it does, it must carry out a number of lower level, or
sub-functions. These sub-functions are termed
ACTIVITIES. These activities are typically composed
of many other sub-activities. Eventually, these activities can be
broken down into individual, repeatable activities;
TRANSACTIONS. It is these records
that result from these transactions that are the focus of the
records management cycle.
For example,
suppose you are fortunate enough to work for an organization that
makes and sells pizza, Canada's fifth food group.
FUNCTION: Provide fresh, hot pizza to the entire city.
ACTIVITY 1:
Manage Pizza
- buy ingredients,
- store ingredients,
- prepare ingredients
- make pizza
ACTIVITY 2:
Sell Pizza
- advertise
- take phone order
- deliver pizza
- collect money from customer
ACTIVITY 3:
Manage Pizzeria Resources
- manage financial operations
- book keeping
- budgeting
- manage salaries
- prepare tax returns
- maintain equipment
- maintain facilities
TRANSACTIONS:
A specific example of a transaction
would be... take the activity of 1. buying
ingredients under the
ACTIVITY
1. Manage Pizza listed above. You go to the grocery
store, and buy spices, flour, pepperoni, cheese, veggies etc., on
the 25th of June. That is the specific transaction. The record
that is generated from, and records evidence of that transaction
is... the cash register receipt.
Not a complicated thing at all.
Some
Benefits: The really nifty thing about a records (RM)
program based on functional analysis, is that the RM program
actually evolves from the very activities that make up the
organization!
Now you have an RM information system
(RM is an information system, no matter how sophisticated it
is...) that is a reflection of the organization it serves!
Stable RM:
No matter how dynamic the organizational structure is... renaming,
downsizing, upsizing, reorgs etc., the business activities
typically remain the same.
ISO Compliant:
The ISO 15489 RM standard was officially introduced in October
2001. It is basically a carbon copy of the Australian RM Standard
AS-4390-1996. While the Aussies were distracting the world with
crocodile hunters of one sort or another, they were busy developing
exceptional records management expertise.
John Purchase, April 2002
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