The information revolution, in which higher education has played so significant a role, has in large measure been characterized by the popular media as the story of an information technology revolution: how the speed of computation continues to increase through advances in high-performance computing, how the speed of communication increases through advances in high-performance networks, how the size of microchips is shrinking, how access to worldwide data networks is becoming ubiquitous, how wireless communications technology is exploding, how electronic commerce is growing, and so much more.
Of equal if not greater significance, however, is the information revolution as a story about information itself: how information is created and kept safe, how it is used and who uses it, what it costs to collect and save it, what its value is, and how that value is affected by its timeliness, accuracy, and accessibility.
This chapter discusses issues and practices in information management, as it is carried out by a variety of professionals in the information and information technology fields, with a primary focus on the importance of information management to the institutional research and assessment community.
A program of institutional assessment may focus its attention directly on information management, assessing how well information is being managed, at what cost, to what uses it is being put, and to what effect. A thorough evaluation of an institution' s information technology investments will also assess practices in the more specific fields of data administration, records management, and information resource management. This chapter provides institutional researchers with an overview and perspective on information management NEW DIRECTIONS FOR INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH, no. 102