Campus-Wide Information Systems: A University Interpretation of the Concepts of Information Management

Abstract

It is always the speaker’s privilege to re-interpret the title of their paper — I do not intend to make an exception. What I want to do is to consider the concepts of Information Management (IM), defined in the programme brochure as, “concerned with the overall planning, control and utilisation of information resources in organisations”, and consider their application in the environment of higher education and its information systems. Examples will be drawn largely from my own experience at Aston University. Aston is a small, technological university, which I shall treat as a case study to test the relevance of the IM model outside its normal province of operation, namely within large, mainly private sector companies. My perspective will be that of planning for and development of campus-wide information systems, although, because of my particular background, and the interests of at least some of the audience, I may well pause to consider especially the changing role of the library in this context.