CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Information management is an idea whose time has come. while the notion has existed for more than a decade, recent developments in the field of information processing, have made the concept and the philosophy underlying it not only viable but imperative. Interpreted literary, information management suggests that information should be recognized as a valuable entity independent of technology that manipulates it. As such, it is recognized as a significant organizational resource; therefore, information should receive serious management attention.

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

According to (Davis 1997), information management is defined as the process by which relevant information is provided to decision- makers in a timely manner

Information management is also defined as an organizational programme that manages the people, processes and technology that provides control over the structure,processing,delivery and use of information that is required for the management of an institution or organization.

Then, according to Krzysztof Wozniak, Information management is the area of activity that aims at providing information to users according to their information needs.

OBJECTIVES OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

The main objective of information management is to allow people i.e. those appropriately authorized to get access to information they need, when they are in need, and in the format they need.

Proper information storage

PRINCIPLES OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

There a number of principles that governs the process of information management, these includes the following, examples: principle on,

Appropriateness and ownership; Information should be appropriately owned and governed in order for it to be managed better, i.e. organizations manages mostly information that they own

Quality; information quality has to be measured in order to determine its durability and permanency levels so that we are able to find out the period after which it's either to be disposed or is it to be archived for future reference.

Clarity; Information to be managed should be clearly understood. The type, nature and format of information should be clear in order to apply appropriate management practices on such information.

Security; Information should be kept appropriately secure but accessible to authorized people who need it. Information security/safety is vital in the process of information management as it prevents any information lose.

Access; information should be available for use and sharing within the constraints of permitted use. This is to say that information should be accessible only to authorized information users.

Recognition and management of complexity; this is whereby organizations are very complex environments in which there is need to deliver concrete solutions when confronted with any problem. Therefore good information management is important during such decision making.

Priorities according to information needs; the planning process should be turned around entirely to drive projects based on their ability to address business needs. in such a situation, information management projects are targeted at the most urgent business needs or issues.

Focus on adoption; information management needs adoption by any organization that aims at attaining its goals, and the whole process requires active participation of staff throughout the organization/institution. for example staff to save all key files in a records management systems