MARA Program Advisory Committee Member Robert McLauchlin is a certified Information Governance Professional (IGP) and currently serves as the Director of Records Management at Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer (BDP) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He has also held several positions in the Calgary chapter of the Association of Records Managers and Administrators (ARMA), including Secretary, Program Director, Vice President, and, most recently, President.

Robert has worked in records and information management for over 20 years. After obtaining his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in 1993 and a Master of Library and Information Studies in 1995, Robert held positions in records and document administration in Alberta’s oil and gas industry. In 2011 Robert completed the Master of Archives and Records Administration program at San José State University, which he had pursued as a complement to his MLIS degree and to enhance his understanding of records and information management. After completing his degree, Robert actively sought opportunities that would allow him to create a records management program, as opposed to just run one. At BDP Robert is able to put theory to practice in developing the information management program, and much of his role involves cultivating information management strategies and fostering a culture of information governance.

In addition to a dynamic role in records and information management, Robert has embodied professional leadership through involvement in various organizations (including the Association of Legal Administrators and the Archival Society of Alberta) and in the academic community. Robert has taught courses and advised on curriculum development for records and information management courses at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. Now Robert will serve in a similar capacity for MARA, by working with the Program Advisory Committee to guide the program’s curricular future.

During his career, Robert has worked with both paper and electronic records and emphasized the importance of having information management supported within an organization. Robert has been involved with administering enterprise taxonomies and retention schedules, as well as overseeing records and information management policies, standards, and procedures. After two decades in the field, Robert offers the following words of encouragement to future information professionals: “Being in the information age, the records field is genuinely exciting right now. There are really no limits to what your career path can be. [You’ll] never run out of things to do, to investigate or to implement.”

Email: rmclauchlin@bdplaw.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-mclauchlin-49b9106