An assessment of the state of national archival and records systems in the ESARBICA region

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to assess and compare the current state of archival and records systems in two of ESARBICA member countries, namely South Africa and Botswana. Design/methodology/approach -The paper uses a qualitative research approach. To draw inferences and make recommendations, a survey was conducted in national and provincial archival institutions of both countries. Secondary data were derived from literature search and primary data from questionnaires. Findings -While archives and records services in both countries do have legislation, they are not being recognised and given status in the government and public arena. Archivists and records managers in either country are still marginalised by state administration. There is no political champion of archives and records management in either country. There is a shortage of funds and staff, accompanied by poor infrastructure and lack of vision by the leaders of archival institutions in both countries. In South Africa, the national archives have inherited a role from the previous dispensation and it still remains a subordinate functionary within the Department of Arts and Culture, rather than being relatively independent. In Botswana, the national archival system is centralised and is also a subordinate functionary within the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture. Practical implications -The findings and recommendations will help in guiding national and provincial archival institutions in both countries to facilitate the effective management of records to determine those of archival value, to preserve them for posterity and to make them accessible to the public. Originality/value -This is the first comparative study on archival and reocrds management systems between Botswana and South Africa.

Provisions for managing and preserving records created in networked environments in the archival legislative frameworks of selected member states of the Southern African Development Community

“…As a result, in many of these countries the infrastructures of successful development are deficient or lacking altogether. For example, Ngoepe and Keakopa 24 contend that the National Archives of South Africa does not have the necessary infrastructure to ingest electronic records into archival custody. This is despite the fact that technology has advanced and many organisations in the SADC region are increasingly saving and accessing records in the highly networked environments.…”

“…This challenge, especially in Africa, is compounded by the lack of infrastructure, outdated legislation on managing digital records and very few universities offering archives and records management modules. 13 To enable the proper management and preservation of electronic records, there is a need for archival legislation to embrace records created and stored in networked environments. There is also a need for systems that guarantee legal ownership and custodianship to be put in place.…”

“…The mandate of this piece of legislation is to administer and manage archival activities in the country 29. The custodianship of recordkeeping and management used to fall under the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs 30. Thus, National Archives only took an advisory role to government departments on how to properly keep records.…”

Management of digital records in selected financial services parastatals in Zimbabwe

“…Therefore, the laborious and inconsistent change from paper to digital systems is bound to pose challenges. Ngoepe and Keakopa (2011) stress that the advent of digital records has presented further challenges to the management of records. This was also reiterated by Lemieux (2016:7) who mentions that there is mounting evidence to suggest that the widespread use of ICTs by government agencies has aggravated the management of records which was already weak in a paper environment.…”

Managing Digital Records in a South African Public Sector Institution

“…Recent technological developments that have impacted how public records are created and managed such as mobile computing and cloud computing have raised a number of challenges to the traditional means of recordkeeping. The identification and transfer of digital records from public institutions into archival custody has not happened in any systematic manner because the national archival system has struggled to effectively manage such records and facilitate their long-term preservation (Ngoepe and Keakopa, 2011). This is because the national archival system is plagued by poor infrastructure and the lack of skilled capacity to ingest any digital records for permanent preservation (The Archival Platform, 2015, p. 102).…”