What is the difference between librarians, records managers and archivists?
All three of these professional groups are responsible for the organisation of information and for helping people to find and use it. Librarians mostly deal with information which is published; that is publicly available. This does not have to be in printed books – web sites, DVDs, databases and other formats all contain publicly available information. Records managers mostly deal with the records of private and government organisations; information which enables the organisation to operate and to satisfy the demands of the law. However, they are increasingly becoming involved in all aspects of corporate information use in a digital age. Archivists deal with older records which are judged to have historical importance and which may be made publicly available to researchers and the general public.
