Article information:To cite this document: Nathan Mnjama Justus Wamukoya, (2007),"E#government and records management: an assessment tool for e#records readiness in government", The Electronic Library, Vol. 25 Iss 3 pp. 274 -284 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to indicate that, with the proliferation of information communication technologies (ICT), electronic records are being generated in many public sector organisations in Africa, which has resulted in many challenges hitherto never experienced by archivists and records managers. Design/methodology/approach -The paper reviews literature on ICT, records management and e-governance and the challenges faced by archivists and records managers particularly in developing countries as they deal with records generated by ICT. Findings -The paper shows that, while many governments have systems and procedures for managing paper-based records, the same cannot be said for electronic records and other digital images. Practical implications -The paper demonstrates that, without proper planning and adoption of various methods, e-records created using modern ICT are likely to become inaccessible in the future, thus compromising the ability to remain accountable to the citizens. Originality/value -The paper shows that, while various e-records readiness tools are available in the West, none of them addresses e-records readiness issues in Africa where systems and procedures for managing records both paper and electronic are inadequate. The article provides a simple tool for assessing a country's e-readiness for the adoption of e-records in an e-government environment. IntroductionAn increasing number of governments all over the world are adopting modern information communication technologies (ICT) as a tool for providing effective and efficient services to their citizens. As a corollary to this, there has been a shift in the manner of how information is collected, processed, stored and disseminated. However, the adoption of these modern ICTs in managing records has often been haphazard without due consideration on the impact they have in such management. This article begins by examining the role ...

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss issues pertaining to the management of court records in Botswana.Design/methodology/approachThe paper shows the use of questionnaires, structured and unstructured interviews with the High Court administrators and records keepers as well as personal observations on how records are managed, inspection of storage facilities and observations on records retrieval procedures.FindingsConcludes that in the past the management of legal records at the High Court received little attentions, but now the High Court has embarked on measures including the introduction of an automated court record system to manage its records.Practical implicationsThe paper shows that the effective management of legal records is of crucial to the administration of justice and that there is a need to pay closer attention to the management of court records.Originality/valueThis paper brings together issues related to the management of court records at the High Court in Botswana.

Purpose -This article seeks to answer one basic question: "Are archival institutions in the Eastern and Southern African region developing, stagnating or receding backwards?" Design/methodology/approach -This article reviews the state of archives and records management in the Eastern and Southern African region. It argues that many archival services in the region have gone through a period of retardation and are in dire need of revitalization. Findings -The article indicates that the challenges of managing electronic records are enormous and that unless measures are taken the region stands to lose much of its valuable historical and cultural heritage.Originality/value -The article suggests various ways of revitalizing archival services in the Eastern and Southern African region.

The Kenya National Archives and Documentation Services was first established by an Act of Parliament in 1965. Prior to that date colonial administration had operated a small archives repository in Nairobi. Musembi (1982a) argues that the failure to evolve an effective archives service in the country can be attributed to lack of interest by colonial administrators. Nathan Fedha, the first African archivist, who succeeded Derek Charman in 1964 as Chief Archivist in Kenya, continued in Charman's footsteps and nothing major happened except the collection of district and provincial records. Fedha was replaced by Dr Maina Kagombe in 1974. During Kagombe's period, the Kenya National Archives underwent a period of uncontrolled growth, and its responsibilities came to include a wide range of non-archival functions (Walford, 1982a, p. 1). Ian Maclean, an Australian records management expert who spent six months in Kenya as a Unesco consultant in 1978, was:. . . astonished at the number and range of objectives and programmes postulated by the Chief Archivist for the Kenya National Archives (Maclean, 1978, p. 4).

Discusses the problems associated with managing semi-current and non-current in many archival institutions in eastern and southern Africa. The article seeks to answer some basic questions such as: Why do archival institutions in the region have backlog accumulations? What is the level of awareness of the problems associated with backlog accumulations? What is the capacity of archives to handle records created by governments? What mechanisms need to be put in place to avoid backlog accumulations ever becoming a problem again in the region? Finally the article proposes a strategy for dealing with backlog accumulations.