A PRACTICAL GUIDE FROM FRACTION/ALLY
Getting Your Records House in Order
Your records are trying to tell you something.
A plain-language guide to records management and information governance — written for organizations that know they need a program and aren't sure where to start. No six-month consulting engagement. No enterprise software budget. Just a clear path to your first 90 days.
$37.95
Digital edition (PDF) / 8 chapters / By Steve Golden, CRM
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Everyone knows something is wrong. Nobody knows what to call it.
After thirty years of walking into organizations like yours, Steve calls it what it is: an information governance problem. It rarely starts with a crisis. It builds quietly in the gaps — until a lawsuit, an audit, or a breach makes it impossible to ignore.
/ “Everything is on the shared drive” — and nobody can find anything.
/ A retention spreadsheet that hasn't been updated in years.
/ A storage room full of boxes nobody has opened since the last administration.
/ A legal hold process that would have to be invented on the spot.
WHAT'S INSIDE
Eight chapters. One practical foundation.
01 Your Information Is a Liability. It Doesn't Have to Be.
What information chaos actually costs — and why “we'll deal with it later” is already a decision.
02 Let's Get the Terms Straight
Records, documents, data, RIM vs. IG, and the information lifecycle — in plain language.
03 What Do You Actually Have?
How to build an honest information inventory by record series, without a six-month project.
04 How Long Should You Keep It?
Retention schedules, the two costly mistakes, and what makes disposition defensible.
05 Getting It on Paper
The two core policies you need, procedures that stick, and the training step most skip.
06 When Records Really Matter
Legal holds, e-discovery, and how to avoid spoliation sanctions before the letter arrives.
07 Technology — Tools to Help (and Traps to Avoid)
Why software can't create a program, plus email, cloud, and AI-generated content.
08 Your First 90 Days
A three-phase roadmap: assess and inventory, prioritize and build, communicate and sustain.
WHO IT'S FOR
Written for the people who get handed the problem.
You don't need a records management background. You need to see information governance as a business problem — not just an IT or legal one.
/ The executive
You know the problem exists and need to decide who owns it — or you already do.
/ The compliance lead
You've been asked to “do something about records” with no mandate, budget, or map.
/ The IT leader
You're tired of being the default owner of every information question.
/ The growing organization
Your information practices haven't kept pace with your growth — and you know it.
WHAT YOU GET
Tools you can put to work this quarter.
/ A shared vocabulary so Legal, IT, and operations finally mean the same thing.
/ A sample starter retention schedule showing how series, triggers, and authorities fit together.
/ A 90-day getting-started roadmap with clear outcomes for each 30-day phase.
/ A legal hold readiness checklist to build before you need it.
/ A technology readiness test — five signs a software purchase is premature.
/ Quick references to ARMA's Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles® and a full glossary.
“Every day that passes without a retention policy is a day you've decided, by default, to keep everything.”
FROM CHAPTER 1
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Steve Golden, CRM
Steve has spent more than thirty years solving the information problems that show up as legal exposure, audit findings, and the slow pile-up of records nobody manages. He has built retention schedules, policy frameworks, and information inventories for organizations from small businesses to global enterprises.
In 2025 he founded fraction-ally to make senior information governance leadership available to organizations that need it — without a full-time executive hire or an enterprise budget. This guide distills that work into a first step you can take on your own.
CREDENTIALS
/ Certified Records Manager (CRM) since 1999
/ 30+ years in records & information management
/ ~10 years as Director of Information Governance, Sony Pictures Entertainment
/ Founder, fraction-ally — Fractional IG Executive
QUESTIONS
Before you buy
/ What format is the book?
It's a digital edition delivered as a PDF, readable on any computer, tablet, or phone.
/ How do I receive it?
Checkout is handled securely through HubSpot. Your download link is sent to the email address you enter at checkout.
/ Do I need a records management background?
No. The guide assumes no prior knowledge. By the end you'll know the vocabulary, the core components, and where to begin.
/ What if we need more help than a book can give?
That's what fraction-ally is for. Reach Steve at steve@fraction-ally.com to talk about an assessment, a retention schedule, or fractional IG leadership.