Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between corporate governance and records management in the context of higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Design/methodology/approach This is a qualitative research taking the form of a collective case study of six institutions. Findings That good records management can and does contribute to effective corporate governance and accountability. However, this relationship is not necessarily present in all circumstances. Research limitations/implications That further corporatisation in higher education is likely to be supported by, and result in, better records management. Originality/value The paper proposes governance record keeping as an approach to managing records and documents in the world of governance, audit and risk.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to re-visit debates around accountability, openness and record keeping and to suggest that existing assumptions need to be challenged. Design/methodology/approach -This is a scholarly essay based on published and unpublished works. The focus is on parliamentary democracies where the Queen or a titular president is head of state. Findings -The primary role of records managers as active citizens should be to provide systems that will enable others to discharge their duties. The primary role of archivists in a plural democracy should be to secure the record for the future. The notion that archivists need to protect the record from political pressure should be re-considered. A more pressing need is for political pressure to be applied at the highest level, to ensure that there is a record.Research limitations/implications -The research has been limited by the fact that the author has not had access to the Cabinet Office. Social implications -If the upper echelons of the British Government are to function effectively then the collapse of proper procedures and proper record keeping described by Tony Blair needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Originality/value -This article is original in so far as it offers a new perspective on issues concerning accountability, openness and records and it challenges existing orthodoxies.

The authors argue that the development and use of elaborate embedded directory structures or file plans, derived from functional analysis, should be a key component in the future development of the discipline of records management. Directory structures thus conceptualised are explicitly intellectual constructs and their construction will require considerable effort, particularly if they are to be portable. Their greatest advantage is that they provide a coherent schema from which to derive folder/file names that can be embedded in metadata. One of the major challenges is to design systems that derive metadata from the directory structure or file plan and attach them automatically to documents at the point of creation, thereby minimising the need for human intervention and opportunities for human error.

This article focuses on the Commonwealth and other mainly Anglophone countries in East and Central Africa. This is an area that has tended to be neglected in recent discourse and debate. The relationship between accountability and record keeping systems is a major theme. Other challenges that have emerged over the last half century are analysed and commented on. An attempt is made to place developments in a wider political and economic context. In addition, the question is posed whether transformation discourses generated in post-Apartheid South Africa 'fit' with the experiences of countries north of the Limpopo. A great many setbacks and obstacles to success are described. The focus, however, is on identifying paths to progress rather than surrendering to cynicism.

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