Archivist Award

Next week I will accept for the NMB an award from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) - The Archivist Achievement Award for 2011. This award recognizes the work the NMB has done in the area of records management, particularly e-records management, and the work we have done in making information available online to the public and the parties with whom we work.

This is particularly gratifying because I have made the records and document management program at the NMB a central piece of the online dispute resolution (ODR) program for the past six years. I have argued that it is essential for dispute resolution professionals and parties to take advantage of the unique power that ICT and online work offers in two areas: managing large amounts of data, and making communication possible for dispersed groups. Before we began doing online arbitration and using brainstorming and document sharing tools to conduct arbitration and mediation, the NMB was laying the groundwork by putting in place records and document management and sharing programs that allow the public, the parties, and our mediators to access vital information at any time, from anywhere.