On the Net

with Chris Goh

Knowledge an invaluable business asset

One of the difficult aspects for SMEs is knowledge retention. In most cases it is intrinsic knowledge about customers and processes that enhance a company's productivity. In the majority of cases, resources are tight, and usually one person specialises in one area. One of the soft spots for organisations when it comes to knowledge and records management is in the clerical area. If you have good clerical staff and they have been there for a number of years, they would have built processes to accommodate and make more streamlined administration services. Good clerical staff also have that special knowledge of how people operate in an organisation, and often become people managers as well. Losing one of these can have a significant impact for an organisation for three to four months, and if these administrators are forever worked to the bone, you may find there's no documentation on processes and procedures, and often no information on how to use a computer system effectively.

Time and time again I see IT staff asked to train new staff on computer systems, but more often than not, they will train someone how to enter the system and store information but not how to use the application successfully. Processes of storing and retrieving records should be documented at all times. Also, the use of numbering to file and archive both paper and electronic records should be adopted. There should also be set procedures for the distribution and disposal of records. Although like any good organisation you will be doing backups of your data, having electronic reports with lists of key contacts will allow the easy import of this data at a later stage should you find that your data hasn't been backed up properly, which occurs quite often.

Good records management, and clear documentation on organisational processes should be part of your business continuity planning (something often overlooked) and will help you better manage change in the organisation. The adage that everyone is replaceable is really only applicable with good management of your records. Although someone can always replace a person's role, organisations need to appreciate and understand that the synergy and applied knowledge someone has is invaluable.

Hotnews

Chinese Researchers have made a breakthrough by discovering a substance found in the common rhubarb that fights Coronaviruses including SARS. The substance stops the virus's ability to propagate and can also successfully fight the common cold. This substance has actually been available through Chinese medicine for many years.

600,000 employee records past and present have gone missing at AOL, including sensitive information like social security numbers. The Secret Service has been called to investigate.

Many slip ups have happened when documents published on the web have not been adequately scrutinised and more savvy computer users discover items that were meant to be kept secret. The most recent stuff up was made by the US Military last weekend when a report was uploaded onto Central Commands Baghdad website that surmises that the US military was not responsible for killing an Italian agent in Baghdad. The author attempted to hide sensitive text by drawing a block over the words and making them invisible. What they didn't know was that user could easily remove these blocks, exposing sensitive information about troop deployments, names of officers involved and more.

The world's first commercial Broadcast Television Network for mobile phones has been launched in Korea, allowing mobile users the ability to sign up to seven television channels.

Hotsites

frontiers.loc.gov/intldl/mtfhtml/mfsplash.html

This is a very interesting site that compares the exploration of the Russian frontier to its once Cold War counterpart, America. It draws parallels about the trials that both nations encountered as they discovered and settled on their new lands and the creation of national identity. In both Russian and English, it is a simple but informative site.

www.cr.nps.gov/hps/tps/allwet/index.htm

The site is dedicated to helping people take simple steps to preserve a historic house largely through moisture prevention. When you read it however, you realise that it is pertinent for anyone who wants to preserve and protect their house.

www.sacred-texts.com/index.htm

Sacred Text is a portal of biblical proportion allowing you to look at human religions as a whole. It is a definitive resource for the theologian in us all and allows us to better understand not only the cultural but also the spiritual diversity of our world.