The Utility of Standards and Good Practice Guidelines for Records Professionals: comparing apples, oranges, and other fruits

The perceived usefulness of standards and good practice guidelines (S&GPG) for records professionals is often seen as ambiguous. Many professionals find the abundance of options overwhelming and confusing. Even after selecting seemingly suitable S&GPG, their direct benefits may not always be evident and can potentially restrict professional autonomy in certain situations. This article explores various approaches employed by records professionals to understand the complexity of S&GPG, such as simple listing or ontological representation. However, each approach has its own set of constraints. The article proposes an initial meta-framework that draws from insights of successful frameworks to provide preliminary categories. The purpose of this conceptual proposal is to assist records professionals understand the connections between S&GPG.