REDISCOVERING THE THEORETICAL BASE OF RECORDS MANAGEMENT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR GRADUATE-EDUCATION - SEARCHING FOR THE NEW SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES

In the Fall 1992 issue of JELIS, Eugenia K. Brumm published a brief de scription of the graduate records management education program at the University of Texas at Austin Graduate School of Library and Informati on Science. Brumm attempts to demonstrate to library educators that th ey should support graduate records management education because it has a theoretical base that is shared with library science. While Brumm's goal is desirable, this article sets out to show that linking records management theory with the broader discipline of information science and its information resource management perspectives is a more fruitfu l and accurate approach. It will further show that the critical link b etween archives and records theory is central to records management ed ucation, while library science theory is only tangential to it. The au thor calls for two changes: (1) that information professionals and edu cators broaden their awareness beyond the library profession to includ e other information professions and their disciplinary knowledge and t heoretical bases and (2) the evolution of ''new schools of information studies'' will respect the need for independent degrees based on the distinct disciplinary knowledge that defines and supports each informa tion profession. He strongly endorses the development of graduate degr ee programs for the nonbibliographic information professions in the Un ited States.