eDiscovery Daily Blog
Perhaps the Most Recognized Standard in eDiscovery Just Got a Facelift – eDiscovery Trends
Probably the most recognized standard in a very unstandardized industry is the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) diagram. For only the second time since it was originally published in 2006, the diagram has been updated.
As announced on Monday, the new Version 3 of the EDRM diagram (see the new diagram above) offers significant updates, primarily to express the importance of information governance (IG) as a key piece of the electronic discovery process.
The leftmost item in the model has been renamed “Information Governance” and its shape has been changed from a rectangle to a circle. These edits better align this diagram with EDRM’s Information Governance Reference Model (IGRM). The adoption of a circle also is meant to show that every well-managed eDiscovery process should start and end with sound information governance, as is reflected by the IGRM diagram here:
In addition, the line from Presentation to Information Governance has been widened. This emphasizes that no eDiscovery process is fully completed – no matter at what stage it stops – until it has been looped back to IG.
The final update to the diagram is the increased size of the words “VOLUME” and “RELEVANCE” in the bottom corners of the diagram. This change draws greater attention to the two core objectives driving most eDiscovery projects.
For comparison purposes, here is what the previous version of the diagram looked like, in use for five years (eons in the eDiscovery world!):
As the announcement notes, the process of updating the diagram began during a group session at the EDRM Mid-Year Meeting in fall 2013. Members agreed that with the increased attention on IG, an update to the popular model was necessary. Much time and effort were invested in creating a new diagram that accurately reflects the current environment. EDRM would like to acknowledge and thank member Wade Peterson of the firm Bowman and Brooke, LLP, who facilitated the model’s graphic design changes. The new diagram was shared at last month’s EDRM Annual Kick-Off Meeting where members approved the updated model.
The new (Version 3) EDRM diagram is available free of charge and can be downloaded in JPG, EPS and/or PDF formats from the EDRM website here. Use of the diagram is subject to a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License, which means it may be shared, remixed, or used commercially as long as attribution is provided by citing “EDRM (edrm.net).”
So, what do you think? Do you use the EDRM diagram? If so, do you like the updates? Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.
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