Shows
Information RevolutionAnnouncing a hiatusA short note to acknowledge that we haven't done an episode this year and to confirm that we are not sure when we will be back.
2025-05-0802 min
Information RevolutionTaxonomies with Helen LippellIn our last episode before we take an end of year break, we had the pleasure of talking with taxonomy consultant Helen Lippell, editor of the book Taxonomies and programme chair of the Taxonomy Boot Camp. We talked about the value of semantic work, the cost-effectiveness of keeping a taxonomy fed and watered, and, of course, how well these tools support the use of AI.
Somehow we collectively hallucinated the existence of "Canada Airlines" - and in the context of discussing the relative accuracy of people and technologies! Perfect.
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose
J...2024-12-1938 min
Information RevolutionBuilding a library or knowledge service with Alison JonesWhat does it take to bring together a library of your organisation's valued information? Alison Jones tells her story with a focus on her current role at Atlassian.
Go back to episode 43 to hear the conversation sparked by Alison's LinkedIn posts, which Karl refers to in this episode.
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose
Judi Vernau
Michael Upton
2024-12-0545 min
Information RevolutionAsk a solution architect II: Attack of the KearnsWelcome back to our guest Adrian Kearns! We thought last episode was fruitful enough that we should go another round. Testable strategy, learning how to influence, and more.
A couple of bonus blog posts from Adrian you should definitely read:
How to influence at work: https://morphological.wordpress.com/2024/11/21/how-to-influence-at-work/
Four traps experienced solution architects fall into and how to mitigate them: https://morphological.wordpress.com/2021/01/27/four-traps-experienced-solution-architects-fall-into-and-how-to-mitigate-them/
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose
Judi Vernau
Michael Upton
2024-11-2144 min
Information RevolutionAsk a solution architect with Adrian KearnsAs part of an occasional series trying to join some dots between information management, information architecture, and other professions, we invited Adrian Kearns to come in and talk about what he does, the kinds of problems architects try and solve, and some of the ways he tries to go about it.
While Michael battles with a touch of the laggy video, we have some good discussion about throwing technology at something that isn't a technology problem, the good ol' Five Whys technique, loose coupling, and more!
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose
Judi Vernau
Michael...2024-11-0739 min
Information RevolutionLibraries, knowledge bases and recordsA free-ranging* conversation about the value of establishing a library or knowledge base of authoritative information than people want to access and can trust!
We touch on everything from shifting the focus of our practice towards getting people the right info, through Conway's Law and the DMBOK, to the persistent value of knowing what problems we're even trying to solve.
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose
Judi Vernau
Michael Upton
* No, that's not a euphemism for completely without focus!
2024-10-2438 min
Information RevolutionCan we scale?If we've got a thousand records to manage, what do we do? How about a million? How about a billion? We talk about the problem that records and information management practices don't seem to change in the face of scale, some of the implications of that, and what we might try.
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose
Judi Vernau
Michael Upton
2024-10-1030 min
Information RevolutionThree things about how SharePoint in Microsoft 365 worksThis episode Michael share three things he wishes he'd known sooner about how information is structured in Microsoft 365, compared to in an EDRMS:
Microsoft 365 Groups change the way you manage access;
there is no folder structure, a site just sits there on its own; and
using content types are key to managing metadata when there's almost no inheritance.
Some links to learn more:
A surprisingly good visual of all the things connected to a Microsoft 365 Group: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/office-365-groups
Thinking about sites as standalone things, these pages might be helpful: "Guiding...2024-09-2630 min
Information RevolutionThey've gone feralEpisode 40! Wow! Thank you to all who have been listening. For this one, we're back on the people stuff, thinking about when folks at work won't stick to the script.
A couple of things that come up:
Fundamental Attribution Bias https://www.simplypsychology.org/fundamental-attribution.html
Five Whys https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-use-the-5-whys-technique-for-a-root-cause-analysis
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose
Judi Vernau
Michael Upton
2024-09-1231 min
Information RevolutionInformation governanceIt's been a minute! Is "information governance" just a rebrand, a way to get people to listen to us? Is it a thing you can get from a piece of software? Surely not. So, what is it?
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose
Judi Vernau
Michael Upton
2024-08-2928 min
Information RevolutionCustodial hangoversIn the era of paper, records management hinged on a custodial model: get the things of value, describe them in order to take care of them, and help people to access them if they ask. How much is this still our practice in 2024? And what does it mean?
Karl mentions Edgar Schein's definition of organisational culture, here's an open access PDF of Schein's Coming to a New Awareness of Organizational Culture.
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose
Judi Vernau
Michael Upton
2024-07-2731 min
Information RevolutionAuto-categorising, auto-classifying and retentionJudi and Michael talk more about auto-classifying records with Judi describing her experiences and the two of them exploring the value of NOT using where something has been filed as the basis for deciding how long it should be retained for. Michael opens with a wee addendum to last episode - there is a data catalogue, by name, in Microsoft Purview!
With your hosts:
Judi Vernau
Michael Upton
Karl Melrose was an apology for this ep, but hasn't disappeared!
2024-07-1133 min
Information RevolutionAuto-classification in Microsoft 365Michael takes us through how you can group information in Microsoft 365 and then trigger actions on it, looking at Microsoft Purview (f.k.a. the Compliance Center) and SharePoint Premium (f.k.a. Syntex).
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose
Judi Vernau
Michael Upton
2024-06-2753 min
Information RevolutionOntologiesIf domain models and information asset registers are two ways of modelling your organisation's information, how about ontologies? Judi leads the conversation on what they're all about.
A few notes:
A snapshot of the Australian Series System as implemented by Archives New Zealand in their system Archway https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/webarchive/20190705140941/http://archway.archives.govt.nz/ArchivalSystem.do
The article 'All Communication Is Miscommunication' https://harishsnotebook.wordpress.com/2024/04/14/all-communication-is-miscommunication/
The Records In Contexts ontology https://www.ica.org/resource/records-in-contexts-ontology
An All-of-Government Ontology options paper https://www.archives.govt.nz/about-us/publications/all-of-government-ontology-options-paper
...2024-06-1349 min
Information RevolutionInformation asset registersWhy does Michael get a sinking feeling when people talk about information asset registers?
What are they for?
What's worse, boiling the ocean or having to retrofit the information you didn't collect?
Could tools help us?
And how many times can we fit the word "catalytic" into one episode?
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose
Judi Vernau
Michael Upton
A few notes:
Treesize gets a mention: it's a piece of software for analysing the content of drives based on file properties.
...2024-05-1638 min
Information RevolutionDomain modellingWhy limit yourself to functional classification?
How could you think describe the whole domain of what your organisation cares about?
... and why would you do that?
Judi mentions some work on an all-of-government ontology, link here: All-of-government ontology options paper – Archives New Zealand
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose
Judi Vernau
Michael Upton
2024-05-0233 min
Information RevolutionWhat we've learnt about valuing informationIn this episode we reflect on the goodies we've gleaned since last November, when we first brought valuing information into focus. If you haven't gone back through the previous episodes, we've had great guests with a lot of insights! Today we pull out some highlights and ruminate on integrating lessons into practice.
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose
Judi Vernau
Michael Upton
2024-04-1848 min
Information RevolutionManaging data as an asset with Doug LaneyWe were thrilled to have Chicago-based innovation fellow, data management enthusiast, and author Doug Laney on the Information Revolution podcast. He touches on the concepts of his books, Infonomics and Data Juice, and drops all kinds of good oil (refined or otherwise) on how to value and make more from the data, information, knowledge and wisdom your organisation holds (a little in-joke there).
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose
Judi Vernau
Michael Upton
Doug rounds out a series of guests we've had on now thinking about valuation, if you're interested look back on previous episodes with...2024-03-3043 min
Information RevolutionData and docs - part 2 with Liz WilsonToday's episode continues a conversation with Liz Wilson about data, documents, and the need for changes of practice to avoid data management cutting records management's lunch. Oh, and the nature of memory!
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose
Judi Vernau
Michael Upton
2024-03-1456 min
Information RevolutionData and docs - part 1 with Liz WilsonOur first episode of 2024! We're back after a bit of a break, with the first part of a conversation with Liz Wilson about data, documents, (not) managing the container and some ruminating on how financial institutions work with information.
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose
Judi Vernau
Michael Upton
2024-02-2946 min
Information RevolutionValue and your exec - part 2 with Matt MooreOur last episode of 2023 continues the conversation with Matt Moore, talking about valuing something vs. pricing it, and how to make information assets tangible, visible, and tractable.
Matt Moore originally trained as a librarian. He spent years in the world of knowledge management and has also worked in learning and development, internal communications, marketing, sales operations, sales, consulting, IT management, project management, and process improvement. He’s done a lot of stuff - maybe some of it quite well!
Some links to things and people we mention:
Doug Laney https://www.douglasblaney.com/
DIKAR ht...2023-12-2145 min
Information RevolutionValue and your exec - part 1 with Matt MooreContinuing the theme of information valuation, we had Matt Moore join us to take us back to some fundamental questions of how organisations determine value and make decisions - what they do and what they say they do.
Matt Moore originally trained as a librarian. He spent years in the world of knowledge management and has also worked in learning and development, internal communications, marketing, sales operations, sales, consulting, IT management, project management, and process improvement. He’s done a lot stuff - maybe some of it quite well!
We had such a good conversation we...2023-12-0729 min
Information RevolutionValuing information assets with James PriceLast episode the Information Revolution hosts talked information valuation. This time we have James Price from Experience Matters sharing results of his research and compelling stories about valuing information, knowledge and data.
Some relevant links:
The first piece of research James refers to: https://www.experiencematters.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Barriers-to-the-Effective-Deployment-of-Information-Assets.-An-Executive-Management-Perspective.pdf
The Holistic Information Asset Management Maturity Model: https://www.experiencematters.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Information-Asset-Maturity-Model-2021.pdf
Experience Matters' website: https://www.experiencematters.com.au/
Ocean Tomo’s latest study on the value of intangible assets. https://oceantomo.com/intangible-asset-market-value-study/
Laura Sebastian-Coleman gets a me...2023-11-2448 min
Information RevolutionInformation valuationKarl kicks off the conversation about how we could get the right level of investment in managing information by valuing information assets beyond the old high, medium, low. And we announce a guest who has thought much more about this than any of us!
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
2023-11-1530 min
Information RevolutionSetting up a new organisationWe're properly back back! Judi asks what we'd do if we were setting up a brand new organisation. Michael pushes the idea of establishing principles, not rules.
Karl mentions the Greiner growth model, here's one description of that: https://medium.com/@potherca/the-greiner-company-growth-model-ccc7e252b492
With your hosts:
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ)
Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
2023-10-1944 min
Information RevolutionMeasuring effectivenessHow do you measure effectiveness of a records programme? Karl and Michael talk collusive relationships, data profiles (stocktakes by yet another name?) time and motion, lining measurement up with real outcomes, using the skills we have, how the ever-growing volume of stuff actually affects us, and the discourse around recordkeeping.
Some links related to things we mention:
An ANAO report on Management of Information Assets: https://www.anao.gov.au/work/performance-audit/management-information-assets
The RIMPA Executive Engagement programme: https://www.rimpa.com.au/events/ems-events-calendar/executive-engagement-masterclass-overview.html
A YouTube clip about...2023-09-2543 min
Information RevolutionKnowledge management?Is knowledge management still a thing? Surely, but how does it relate to records and information management? Isn't making tacit knowledge explicit making a record?
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
2023-08-1334 min
Information RevolutionReflecting on one yearIt's been as good as a year, so for our 21st episode the Information Revolution hosts take a minute to reflect. Do we still need a revolution in our profession? Are there things we've changed our minds about? Things we wished we said?
Somewhere along the way we talk about the idea of formally debating topics, of inviting people to be the devil's advocate, and of an "EDRMS" made up of many tools, not one monumental solution.
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
2023-07-2729 min
Information RevolutionGetting seriously digitalOur 20th episode! The Information Revolution hosts dig into what it means to manage databases from a records and information perspective, with a focus on those that power business applications.
What if you keep the whole database? What if you pull reports out? What does it mean to maintain access? How do you decide? ... and how much of this is really only about databases?
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
2023-07-1335 min
Information RevolutionHuman centred design with Amy StoksIt's essential for information and records folks to collaborate, and the hosts of Information Revolution thought it was past time we had a real designer on the show. Amy Stoks from Good People talks about human centred design, two of the possible objectives of discovery, and hopefully avoids an existential crisis!
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
2023-06-2949 min
Information RevolutionMore EDRMS and Microsoft 365We continue on from the last two episodes, where we talked about how EDRMS has failed for government and the opportunities and risks for managing information in Microsoft 365. Includes some chat about digital disposition / disposal and the range of reasons that government agencies keep information beyond typical appraisal criteria.
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
2023-06-1542 min
Information RevolutionMicrosoft 365If EDRMS has been a failed endeavour for government, how about managing information in Microsoft 365? What are the risks and opportunities? Time to talk M365 head-on.
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ and UK)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
2023-06-0139 min
Information RevolutionThe failure of EDRMSTime to address something head on: electronic document and records management systems have failed, if we're talking about government recordkeeping in practice. Failure analysis is important for figuring out what we need to do.
We discuss what EDRMS is, what we think success looks like, what are some reasons that hasn't happened in real life - and, as always, would love to hear your thoughts!
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ and UK) and
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
2023-05-2129 min
Information RevolutionUnderstand the information landscapeJudi takes point, talking about how to get the big picture and what that means. Also that it doesn't need to be a long, slow thing. How do you make useful tactical changes, creating a virtuous cycle AND have confidence that you're heading in the right direction? Start by understanding the information landscape.
With your hosts:
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ and UK)
Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
2023-05-0732 min
Information RevolutionCreating virtuous cyclesThe opposite of a vicious circle, creating a virtuous cycle is about asking: what are those things we do or could do that would allow us to do bigger and better things? With a side order of pondering about relationships with IT and how to get the right access to Microsoft 365!
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ and UK)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
2023-04-2336 min
Information RevolutionChanges you could make right nowPart of a series loosely around the state of the industry and how to really make steps to improve. With your hosts:
Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ and UK)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
2023-04-0734 min
Information RevolutionAppraising where we’re atThe start of a new series, loosely around the state of the industry and how to really make steps to improve. With your hosts:
Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ and UK)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
2023-03-2341 min
Information RevolutionSkills for the futureWhat skills do you think information teams will need in the future? A classic new year topic. This necessarily requires talking about what we think the future might look.
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ and UK)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
2023-02-0246 min
Information RevolutionTelling good storiesHow are stories compelling for getting work done? How do you tell good stories? Maybe it all comes back to DIKAR? Once again!
Karl shares a couple of information-related stories he really likes, from this RIMPA Global panel:
Start of the panel - https://youtu.be/KBWiKDHq7Tc?t=10859
Rowan’s Story - https://youtu.be/KBWiKDHq7Tc?t=12795
Duncan’s story - https://youtu.be/KBWiKDHq7Tc?t=11370
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ and UK)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
2022-12-0832 min
Information RevolutionEngaging with your execHow do you talk to the executive in your organisation?
When should you even be doing it?
What can they do for you?
And why are information records folks excited about a book about IT that Karl recommends?
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ and UK)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
2022-11-2428 min
Information RevolutionInformation cultures - with Gillian OliverThis episode is our first crack at having a guest! Gillian Oliver joined us to talk about information cultures, a topic she has written about widely, including in her book Recordkeeping Cultures with Fiorella Foscarini.
With your hosts:
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ and UK)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
Karl couldn't join us this episode, but will be back!
2022-11-1027 min
Information RevolutionHelping people find stuffFindability, search strategies, and actually asking people what they need to find out and how they expect to do it: all critical aspects of information architecture and information management!
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ and UK)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
2022-10-2729 min
Information RevolutionThe people stuffSometimes information architects and managers alike obsess over systems and tools and all the rest: what about dealing with people? That's where the real opportunities lie.
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ and UK)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
2022-10-1329 min
Information RevolutionWhat would you do if retention was off the table? Round 2For episode 5 of Information Revolution we thought there was enough of interest to come back to the same topic as last episode: What if you worked in information and records management and never had to think about retention and disposal/disposition again? What else would you be doing? Who would you be helping and how?
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose (Castlepoint Systems)
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ and UK)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
2022-09-2927 min
Information RevolutionWhat would you do if retention was off the table?What if you worked in information and records management and never had to think about retention and disposal/disposition again? What else would you be doing? Who would you be helping and how?
We're asking some big questions for good reasons in episode 4 of Information Revolution!
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose (Leadership Through Data AU/NZ)
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ and UK)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ)
2022-09-1526 min
Information RevolutionWhat to do with your information stocktakeThree ideas of what you could do with an information asset register, stocktake, audit, landscape, inventory. Last episode we talked about figuring out what you have, this time we talk about what to do with the results.
Information Revolution is a podcast for people who manage and work with information, with your hosts:
Karl Melrose (Leadership Through Data AU/NZ)
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ and UK)
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ).
2022-09-0225 min
Information RevolutionFiguring out what you’ve got!Information landscapes, inventories, stocktakes, asset registers, audits? Whatever you call them, this episode of Information Revolution is about the value of knowing what information you've got.
With your hosts:
Karl Melrose (Leadership Through Data AU/NZ),
Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ and UK), and
Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ).
2022-08-2127 min
Information RevolutionHow Information Management and Information Architecture fitThe first episode ever of the Information Revolution podcast! Today we talk about information architecture and how this relates to modern information management. (Clue: it's essential.)
The podcast is hosted by Karl Melrose (Leadership Through Data AU/NZ), Judi Vernau (Metataxis NZ and UK) and Michael Upton (Metataxis NZ).
2022-08-0525 min