Stage 1: IM Planning
During Stage 1: IM Planning, the Records and Information Life Cycle is considered an integral aspect of activity planning that reflects a number of important guiding initiatives such as the Government of Canada and your department’s business plans, policies and procedures, legislation, and trends.
Why is Stage 1 Important?
Good planning is the key to success of every initiative, large or small. This is the stage where IM practitioners and managers plan measures to support the Records and Information Life Cycle. Planning is an activity that reflects a wide variety of inputs. A comprehensive IM Plan can relate to an entire department, a workgroup, or simply an initiative.
Critical Notes about Stage 1: IM Planning
The most important aspect of Stage 1 is to recognize that any plan is better than no plan. Like many, you may be just beginning the process of incorporating IM into your regular planning cycles. Others may be looking to strengthen their understanding of IM and its principles and practices. Regardless of which stage you are at, undertaking planning to set the stage for effective IM within your initiatives is a best practice that you should feel proud of.
Canada is among the world’s leaders in Information Management practices, and with the help of our IM community, we will continue to lead the way in the future. Your contributions over time to this site will help make it a world-recognized resource for IM.
Inputs to Stage 1: IM Planning
Since good foundations are needed to plan your Information Management initiatives, IM practitioners will get key inputs from a wide variety of sources, including:
- worldwide government, business and academic communities who are driving global trends in IM;
- Government of Canada;
- your department; and
- Library and Archives Canada.
Outputs from Stage 1: IM Planning
The five key outputs from this stage include your:
- information strategy;
- IM governance and accountability framework;
- information classification system framework;
- retention and disposition plans; and
- staff competencies map and training initiatives.
This stage is the most important precursor to all other Stages of the Records and Information Life Cycle. The IM planning stage is complemented by Stage 7: Evaluation, which will monitor the effectiveness of plans and provide feedback to future planning stages in the interest of continuous improvement.
Library and Archives Canada’s Role in Stage 1: IM Planning
Library and Archives Canada is a National Centre of Excellence in Information Management. It plays a key role in guiding federal government IM practitioners about the importance of effective Records and Information Life Cycle Management. We increasingly make a range of tools, standards, guidelines and practices available to the IM community at large, and Government of Canada employees in particular. Where needed, we provide advice, consultation, training and orientation to support the effective planning of Information Management initiatives.
While we support good Information Management practices at all stages of the Records and Information Life Cycle, we also play a key role in Stage 1: Planning, by providing advice, guidance and input on:
- information strategies;
- IM governance and accountability frameworks;
- measurement frameworks with monitoring and evaluation plans;
- information classifications systems;
- retention plan advice and consultation; and
- disposition, through multi-year disposition plans, multi-year acquisition plans with cost of ownership models, departmental disposition submissions and authorities, and multi-institutional disposition authorities.
If you would like more information or assistance with any of these aspects, we invite you to contact us to learn more.
Resources that Support Stage 1: IM Planning
Click here to access available resources that support Stage 1.
If you have resources that you feel will contribute to the overall IM community’s success, we invite you to contact us so that we can add your resources to our growing pool of shared knowledge.
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