Article Preview
TopIntroduction
Information management is the coordination and control of the acquisition, storage, processing, distribution and use of information (ECM, 2021). As such, the goal of information management is to ensure realization of value out of information. In different sectors like e-agriculture, education, governance, business and health, getting value out of the information in these sectors is critical. In order to have value for information, it is essential to establish an information management framework (a structure that supports the realization of the goal of Information Management) to support the realization of the goal of information management in different sectors. Consequently, different sectors have sought to conceptualize different sector-specific information management frameworks in order to achieve this goal. Sector-specific information management frameworks are designed for specific contexts and address information management needs for that given context. This makes it difficult to have a consistent thinking pattern when developing and evaluating information management frameworks in institutions/ sectors that seek to streamline their information management practices. As a result, extending an existing information management framework and developing a new one becomes a challenge. Therefore, this research set out to conduct a narrative review of existing literature on information management frameworks with a focus of identifying essential and crosscutting elements of an underlying information management framework. This paper presents a catalog of essential elements that constitute an information management framework. Such a catalog is vital to serve as a reference point for developing an information management framework for a sector/ institution that wants to streamline its information management practices.
The purpose of this study, therefore, was to review existing sector-specific information management frameworks in order to suggest the underlying elements that constitute an overarching information management framework. The remainder of this paper presents the theoretical background of information management, the methodology for this study, results, conclusion, limitations and suggestions for further research.
Different authors explain information management in terms of tasks involved (Bytheway, 2015; Choo, 2002; Butcher and Rowley, 1998). Butcher and Rowley (1998) look at information management as composed of acquiring information, information custodianship, dissemination of information, and disposal. Choo (2002) views information management as a series of the following tasks; Establishing information needs, information acquisition, information organization and storage, information services and products, information distribution, information use, and adaptive behavior. Information management is depicted as a series of related tasks that result in adaptive behavior and then the process starts all over again with information needs and information acquisition.
Detlor (2010) perceives information management as the management of the processes/activities and systems/resources that create, acquire, organize, store, distribute, and use information. Information management aims to help people and organizations access, process, and use information efficiently and effectively (Detlor, 2010). As a result, people become more informed and organizations more competitive and strategic. The discussion in the previous paragraphs indicate that information management is composed of tasks. For the purpose of this study the tasks suggested by Choo (2002) are the basis for which information management in this study was conceptualized and limited to acquisition, storage, distribution and use of information. Choo, (2002) was opted for because the tasks suggested (acquisition, storage, distribution and use of information) are clear and hinted on by other authors as reviewed in the previous paragraphs.