Certifications in the Information Management Industry Part 1 - Introduction

Other parts in this series: 

• Certifications in the Information Management Industry Part 2 - The Certified Records Manager and Certified Records Analyst
• Certifications in the Information Management Industry Part 3 - The Information Governance Professional
• Certifications in the Information Management Industry Part 4 - The Certified Information Professional

In the interests of full disclosure, I was the technical architect for the AIIM CIP in 2011 and the program and exam architect in 2016 and 2019. I also served on the scoring committee for the 2022 update to the ARMA IGP. For the others listed, my only involvement is as a certified holder of their credential, and, as required, a member of ICRM. 

Introduction

The information management industry - whether defined pretty narrowly as records management, or more expansively to include most or all of the "IG pinwheel" - has seen a number of certifications introduced, many of them quite recently. I regularly present on the certifications in our industry and get asked about "which one is right" all the time. So I thought I might write about certifications broadly, and then get into the weeds of the various certifications in the industry, before concluding with some thoughts on how to pick the right one for you. 

I thought it might be helpful to start this series of posts with some definitions. 

According to the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE), 

A certification program is designed to test the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform a particular job, and, upon successfully passing a certification exam, to represent a declaration of a particular individual’s professional competence.  In some professions, certification is a requirement for employment or practice. 

Certifications reflect the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities required to effectively practice a particular job. This means that the process starts with an understanding of the nature of the job - what tasks are required, to what standards are they performed, and then what successful candidates need to be able to do to prove that they can perform those tasks to that standard. This means that the tasks and standards need to be somewhat standardized as well - so that a candidate from one state or industry with the identical knowledge, skills, and abilities as one from another state will score equally well on the exam. 

Most certifications require that the exam be formalized through a proctoring process, wherein the candidate's identity is confirmed and the candidate is observed during the exam to ensure there is no cheating or compromise of exam materials. Certifications also require regular renewal, whether through reexamination or the completion of continuing education units. Many, though not all, require acceptance of, and adherence to, a code of ethics. 

I have a more detailed list of the characteristics of certifications below. 

Certificates vs. Certifications

In contrast to a certification, a certificate is generally part of a specific learning program. As ICE notes, it is directly linked to a specific course of learning and learning objectives. When AIIM wrote the Modern Records Management Practitioner course, AIIM decided what the learning objectives were for the course, and wrote a certificate exam that tested students' understanding of the materials presented. 

Many certificate programs are based on industry best practices; for example, AIIM's Modern Records Management Specialist course was based on ISO 15489, guidance from the U.S., UK, and Australian national archives, and a number of records management industry books and references. But the course content still reflects AIIM's point of view, which may not align perfectly with ARMA's or the ICRM's for example. 

When is a Certification a Certification? 

But not all certifications are equal. At least in the U.S. and in our industry, anyone can call anything they want a certification. That means, to evaluate whether something is a certification or not, I look at several factors. Many of these are documented in ISO/IEC 17024:2012, Conformity assessment — General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons, while others represent practices more or less prevalent in the certification industry. 

• A proctored exam. This ensures that the candidate who signed up is the one taking the exam, and is not cheating, stealing questions, etc. Proctored exams are generally also timed, and if a candidate doesn't pass the exam, there is often a mandatory delay before the candidate can retake the exam. There are a few certifications that use something more akin to an interview or jury process, but it's still a synchronous, in person or live online process. 
• A valid and reliable exam. In a nutshell, psychometric validation is used to demonstrate that the exam measures what it is intended to through the use of a number of techniques. Psychometric validation is one way to set the passing score for the exam in a way that is defensible, rather than simply saying, e.g., "70% is a good passing score." A reliable exam produces consistent results across exam locations, delivery mechanisms, etc. 
• A documented recertification process, whether through retaking the exam, completing continuing education requirements, or through some other mechanism. 
• Acceptance of a code of ethics. 
• Formal training prerequisites. For example, the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam requires 35 hours of formal project management training. 
• Experiential prerequisites. The PMP also requires documenting and submitting 60 months of full-time experience leading projects, though it is reduced to 36 months if the candidate also has a bachelor's degree. 
• Application fees. The Institute for Certified Records Managers (ICRM) charges a non-refundable $100 application fee to candidates for the Certified Records Manager exam. 

There are also a couple of elements that certification programs should not offer or require, at least under ISO 17024. 

• Restricting certification access or maintenance through limiting them to only paid members of an association or group.
• Requiring the certifying body's training, or implying that certification is simpler, easier, or less expensive if such training is used.

As I think about certifications, I believe they come in seven different levels of rigor, and only the last three are "real" certifications in my mind. 

• Level 7: "Certifications" that are not proctored, offer unlimited time or attempts, and are generally conducted online.
• Level 6: "Certifications" that are proctored, but through a very ad hoc process that doesn't prevent candidates from nefarious activities like recording the screen.
• Level 5: "Certifications" that align to a very narrow set of references and subject matter experts. These tend to be reflective of the participants rather than aligning to industry standard tasks and requirements, and are really more of a certificate program in most cases. 
• Level 4: "Certifications" that are not valid or reliable - that is, they have not gone through a psychometric validation process. 
• Level 3: Certifications that are proctored, and valid, but that don't meet the other requirements, such as renewal requirements or adherence to a code of ethics. While these are certifications, they can lose their value quickly. 
• Level 2: Certifications that are proctored, valid, require maintenance, and have a code of ethics. 
• Level 1: Certifications that have been assessed and accredited by/through ICE, ISO 17024, etc. Note that this doesn't mean, e.g., "Our exam was developed in conformance with ISO 17024" - it means you paid the money and got the assessment. 

In subsequent posts, I'm going to look at the main IG/IM/RM certifications in depth. At the moment this includes: 

• AIIM's Certified Information Professional
• ARMA's Information Governance Professional
• ICRM's Certified Records Manager. The Certified Records Analyst is substantially the same in most respects so I'll cover it briefly in that post. I'll also review their specialty designations. 

I had planned to include CIGOA's Certified Information Governance Professional and InfoAdvocates' Strategic Information Professional Certification, but I haven't been able to get definitive information for some aspects of them. 

For each of them I'll review the basics = what they cover, qualifying, costs, maintenance, etc. If you are aware of another certification focused on IG/IM/RM, anywhere in the world, let me know and I'll take a look.