Survey on the state of information governance in Canadian organisations

(version française)

Description of the study

As part of its activities, the Groupe d’études et de recherche en gouvernance informationnelle (Interdisciplinary research group on information governance) (GREGI) is undertaking a study to assess the state of information governance in Canadian organisations.

Information governance is defined as an accountability framework that provides the basic principles and rules, management structure, and information management methods so that information is used effectively and efficiently in the organisation. This framework specifies expected behaviors for the creation, storage, evaluation, provision, use and sharing of information.

The main informational challenges faced by organisations relate to the concepts of risk, security, integrity and availability of information contents and information systems, and the development and maintenance of an information culture shared by all organisational actors. Even though information governance may help organisations with the multiple information challenges they are meeting, little is known about how it is implemented.

Study design

This project is approved by the Comité d’éthique de la recherche en arts et en sciences of the Université de Montréal (project no CERAS­2014­15­225­D). The data will be collected using a Web questionnaire pretested with six information professionals* from library and archives settings. Information professionals working in Canadian organisations will be invited to participate through various discussion lists of information management, libraries, records management and archives communities. In order to better reach those Canadian communities, the questionnaire will be deployed in French and English. The data collected will be analyzed using either qualitative or quantitative methods depending on the nature of the questions (open-ended ou closed-ended questions)

* Information professional is used here in a broad perspective and refers to any person whose tasks are related to the management of information. Some job positions for information professionals include: archivist, librarian, chief information officer, knowledge or records manager, information service manager, information architect, competitive intelligence experts, etc.

Researchers

  • Dominique Maurel (dominique.maurel@umontreal.ca), Associate professor, École de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l’information (EBSI)Université de Montréal
  • Christine Dufour (christine.dufour@umontreal.ca), Associate professor, École de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l’information (EBSI), Université de Montréal
  • Natasha Zwarich (zwarich.natasha@uqam.ca), Professor, Département d’histoireUniversité du Québec à Montréal

Study timeline

Results dissemination

Publications

Paper in refereed journals

Maurel, D., C. Dufour & N. Zwarich. (2017). La valeur ajoutée de l’archiviste: nouveaux rôles et responsabilités au sein de la gouvernance de l’information [The added value of the archivist: new roles and responsibilities in information governance]. La Gazette des archives, 2017-1(245), 81-96.

Paper in refereed proceedings

Zwarich, N., D. Maurel & C. Dufour. (2016). Le rôle stratégique de l’archiviste à l’ère de la gouvernance informationnelle [The strategic role of the archivist in the age of information governance]. In P. Servais & F. Mirguet (Eds), L’archiviste dans quinze ans: nouvelles attentes, nouvelles responsabilités, nouveaux défis. Actes des 15es Journées des Archives de l’Université catholique de Louvain, 23-24 avril 2015 (p. 229-248). Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium): Academia L’Harmattan.

Presentations

Refereed presentations in conferences

Maurel, D., N. Zwarich & C. Dufour. (2017, May 30th). Negotiating information governance among professionals – Results from Canadian studies. ARMA Canada Conference, Toronto (Canada), 30 May-1 June, 2018. Retrieved at http://dufour.ebsi.umontreal.ca/gregi/projet_pilote/gregi_pilote_arma_2017.pdf

Maurel, D., N Zwarich & C. Dufour. (2016, March 30th). La valeur ajoutée de l’archiviste: nouveaux rôles et nouvelles responsabilités au sein de la gouvernance de l’information [The added value of the archivist: new roles and responsibilities in information governance]. 2e Forum des archivistes – Association des archivistes français, Troyes (France), 30 March-1 April, 2016. Retrieved at http://dufour.ebsi.umontreal.ca/gregi/projet_pilote/gregi_pilote_forum_aaf_2016.pdf

Zwarich, N., D. Maurel & C. Dufour. (2015, September 28th). Positionnement de l’archiviste et du gestionnaire de documents dans la gestion des risques informationnels à travers la gouvernance de l’information [Positioning the archivist and the records manager in the management of information risks through information governance]. 3rd International Council on Archives Annual Conference, Reykjavik (Iceland), 28-29 September, 2015. Retrieved http://dufour.ebsi.umontreal.ca/gregi/projet_pilote/gregi_pilote_ica_2015.pdf

Invited talks in conferences or research groups

Maurel, D., N. Zwarich & C. Dufour (2017, June 5th). The Interdisciplinary Research Group on Information Governance & Main results from a study of information governance in Canadian organizations. InterPARES Trust – North American Team Research Meeting, Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, Ottawa (Canada), 5 June, 2017.

Dufour, C., N. Zwarich & D. Maurel. (2017, March 20th). État des lieux de la gouvernance de l’information au Canada: quelle place pour les professionnels de l’information? [State of information governance in Canada: what place for information professionals?]. 4e Conférence conjointe ARMA Montréal et Association des archivistes du Québec, Montréal (Canada), 20 March, 2017.

Zwarich, N., D. Maurel & C. Dufour. (2015, April 24th). Le rôle stratégique de l’archiviste à l’ère de la gouvernance informationnelle [The strategic role of the archivist in the inormation governance era]. 15es Journées des archives de l’Université catholique de Louvain – Les archivistes dans quinze ans: nouvelles attentes, nouvelles responsabilités, nouveaux défis, Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgique), 23-24 April, 2015.

Invited talks in academic programs

Maurel, D., N. Zwarich & C. Dufour. (2016, October 21th). Le rôle du professionnel de l’information dans la gouvernance de l’information: résultats d’une enquête [The role of the information professional in information governance: results of a survey]. Presentation to the students of the Master Information-Documentation, Département Information-Documentation, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3, Montpellier (France).

Maurel, D. (2016, October 6th). Gouvernance de l’information: le rôle du professionnel de l’information [Information governance: the role of the information professional]. Presentation to the first-year students of the Master MEEF (Métiers de l’enseignement, de l’éducation et de la formation), École supérieure du professorat et de l’Éducation (ESPE) d’Aquitaine, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux (France).

Maurel, D. (2015, November 16th). Gouvernance de l’information: exploration du concept et rôle des acteurs organisationnels – présentation de résultats de deux enquêtes [Information governance: exploring the concept of information governance and the role of organizational actors – presentation of the results of two surveys]. Presentation to the students of the Licence professionnelle Dispositifs de gestion et de diffusion de l’information numérique and of the Master Information-Documentation, Département Information-Documentation, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3, Montpellier (France).

Zwarich, N., D. Maurel & C. Dufour. (2015, September 24th). Les compétences clés à développer dans le contexte de la gouvernance de l’information [Key competencies in the information governance context]. Presentation to the students of the Information Governande module, Master in Information Sciences, Haute École de gestion de Genève, Geneva (Switzerland).

Maurel, D. (2015, September 24th). Gouvernance informationnelle: essai de définition et rôle des acteurs organisationnels – présentation de résultats de deux enquêtes [Information governance: an attempt at defining the information gouvernance concept and at determining the role of information professionals – presentation of the results of two surveys]. Presentation to the students of the Information Governance module, Master in Information Sciences, Haute École de gestion de Genève, Geneva (Switzerland).