Below is a background summary with references that supports the view that traditional records management practices—often centered on folder structures and varying retention requirements—can create friction in high-volume, transactional environments. This summary also highlights the potential of metadata-driven approaches to improve usability and compliance.

Background:

Traditional records management (RM) systems have historically focused on hierarchical folder structures and classification schemes to manage records based on function and retention rules. According to ISO 15489-1:2016 (Information and documentation – Records management), records are classified “to link records to the business activities that generated them” through functional classification schemes. While this functional approach provides a solid foundation for compliance and accountability, it often diverges from how practitioners perceive their work and handle day-to-day tasks.

In high-volume transactional contexts—such as building permits, contracts, project documents, or case files—end-users frequently conceptualize their activities as cohesive workflows or projects rather than distinct record types with different retention periods. Lappin (2010) notes that traditional classification methods may not align with the natural work processes of users, causing frustration and resistance. Users find it cumbersome to split related files across different folders or repositories to meet varying retention requirements. The result is that the complexity grows with scale. As volumes increase, the necessity to manually classify documents into multiple subfolders, each with its own retention rules, becomes tedious. This complexity leads to lower user engagement, adoption hurdles, and sometimes the abandonment of RM practices.

Recent literature and best practices suggest that leveraging metadata and automation can bridge this gap. ARMA International’s Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles® (2017) and AIIM (Association for Intelligent Information Management) publications emphasize that metadata-driven classification and automated workflows can streamline processes. By applying metadata tags—ideally assigned automatically through integrated workflows or intelligent capture solutions—documents can inherit their retention rules and governance controls without forcing users to navigate complex folder structures.

Metadata also enhances search and retrieval. When documents are classified by content type, project, or transactional attributes at capture, users can easily locate what they need without drilling through multiple layers of folders. This shift towards metadata-centric approaches aligns with Gartner research on Information Governance (2021), which notes that enterprises adopting automated classification and metadata tagging see improved compliance, reduced user friction, and higher system adoption rates.

In summary, while traditional RM approaches rely on folder structures that can create end-user frustration—especially in high-volume transactional work—emerging best practices and standards encourage a move toward metadata-driven classification and automated workflows. This approach respects users’ perceptions of their work, simplifies retention compliance, and improves overall usability.

References:

ISO. (2016). ISO 15489-1:2016 Information and documentation – Records management – Part 1: Concepts and principles. Geneva: International Organization for Standardization. Retrieved from https://www.iso.org/standard/62542.html

Lappin, J. (2010). What will be the next records management orthodoxy? Records Management Journal, 20(3), 252–264. https://doi.org/10.1108/09565691011095211

ARMA International. (2017). Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles®. ARMA International Educational Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.arma.org/page/principles

AIIM. (n.d.). Metadata and Taxonomies. AIIM Industry Watch. Retrieved from https://www.aiim.org

Gartner. (2021). Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Information Archiving. Gartner Research. Retrieved from https://www.gartner.com