Change for good : case studies of New Zealand government agencies' using functional taxonomy for their public records management

Abstract

Recommended by the first international records management standard ISO 15489-2001, functional taxonomy has been gaining its wide acceptance over other types of taxonomy in many countries. Focusing on the context of New Zealand, this research was to investigate government agencies' adoption of functional taxonomy in their public records management. It aimed to find out agencies' reasons for taxonomy changes; records management practitioners' understanding of advantage and disadvantages of functional approach by comparing it with their previous approaches; as well as their good and bad experience during their taxonomy change projects. This is a qualitative research based on multiple case studies. The data was collected by interviewing purposely selected records management professionals within government agencies. The conclusions were made by comparing this research's findings with previous literature. The findings of this research provide useful tips for other organizations which are doing or going to do similar changes to their records management, highlight that there is great need for more systematic guidelines and methodologies which could really reflect and fit into New Zealand agencies' working situation.