No abstract

Organizations have managed information regarding knowledge of employees using various processes such as knowledge mapping, network analysis, codification and personalization. Some of these organizations have been chosen to receive awards for their outstanding performance, for instance for their finest use of knowledge. This paper examines how knowledge award‑winning organizations distinguished themselves from other organizations, when it came to the registration, access and use of the knowledge of employees. The aim was to provide an understanding of how these organizations supported personal knowledge registration, and whether winning an award entailed a more comprehensive overview of the knowledge residing in employees. Whether the organizations benefitted financially from the registration process was also examined. This was a qualitative research. It was a multiple‑case study, covering 18 organizations in Iceland, of which six had received the Knowledge Company of the Year award. A total of 35 semi‑structured interviews were conducted and six award‑winning verdicts analysed. A conceptual model was used to clarify the results. The findings indicate that the award‑winning organizations received the award for outstanding success. Still, little emphasis was put on the management of the personal knowledge of employees. Interviewees experienced adversity regarding costs, time, limited access and use of personal knowledge. Most interviewees claimed that the registration of knowledge had a financial gain but found it difficult to measure and hard to confirm.

National responses to the global COVID-19 pandemic provided the opportunity to gain insight into characteristics of societal information cultures. Experiences from four different countries (China, Australia, the Netherlands, and Iceland) were collected and analyzed from an information literacy perspective. Research was guided by Giddens’ structuration theory.

Purpose Many organizations are challenged by different and, perhaps, opposite, registration and protection obligations of information regarding their employees. The purpose of this paper is to explore how organizations balance the registration obligations of the Icelandic equal pay standard (EPS) and the protection requirements of the general data protection regulation (GDPR). It aims to raise awareness of how information professionals can ensure that documentation on the education and skills of employees is authentic, traceable and secure. Design/methodology/approach The analytical framework covered multiple-cases and semi-structured interviews with various professionals and comprehensive documentary analysis. Findings The findings indicate that the organizations were not properly prepared for the implementation of the EPS and were hesitant regarding further registration of personal information due to GDPR. Documentary analysis also revealed critical attitudes towards the legal endorsement of the standard and its potential success. Originality/value There is a lack of studies explaining the juxtaposition of information and records management and the legal and regulatory environment. This paper provides a unique description of how information and recordkeeping practices function with the requirements of the EPS whilst complying with GDPR. The results could bring valuable opportunities for the information profession regarding the development, implementation, administration and maintenance of documentary evidence regarding the requirements of international and national standards and legislations and advance their collaboration with other professionals in the management of information.

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to investigate how recordkeepers in Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Iceland and Italy experienced accomplishing their tasks from home over varying lengths of time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach A multilingual survey including 44 questions was designed and administered to the six countries identified above in 2022. This research was preceded by an environmental scan looking at existing studies considering archival and records management responses to the pandemic. Findings The impact of working from home on recordkeeping and, more generally, work performance was perceived differently by the survey respondents depending on various factors. The study also identified a number of similarities across countries, such as an increased awareness of the importance of records management shared by organizational actors. Surprisingly, the pandemic did not appear to have a great impact on the perceived quality of records management. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study aiming to capture records professionals’ perceptions of their role while working from home during the pandemic.