The management of public records and archives in the member countries of ESARBICA

Abstract

This article discusses the findings of a cross-sectional study conducted between 2004 and 2005 to determine the extent to which archival institutions within the East and Southern Africa Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives (ESARBICA) region managed public records and archives. It is important that public records and archives are managed efficiently and effectively because the information they contain is the cornerstone of holding government accountable and fostering good governance. Data for the research were obtained through interviews, content analysis of documents and self-administered questionnaires that were mailed to the 13 member states that comprised ESARBICA. The study revealed that national archives within ESARBICA had limited resources for records management functions. Secondly, records management processes were neither governed by standards nor guided by a professional code of ethics. Thirdly, records management staff were not adequately trained. Fourthly, electronic records were in danger of being lost due to benign neglect. Fifthly, legislation that mandated archival institutions to manage records through their life-cycle was not comprehensive in certain instances. Sixthly, strategies used for public programming activities were rather limited and not clearly targeted at some archival institutions. However, there was growing recognition that stakeholders were best served by the management of records throughout their life-cycle.

Notes

[1] Mazikana, Survey of Archival Situation, 10; Wamukoya, ‘Records.

[2] Sturges, ‘Records Management in Africa,’ 218 – 28.

[3] Heeks, ‘The Approach of Senior Public Officials to Information Technology-related Reform,’ 197; Ngulube, ‘Strategies for Managing Digital Records and Documents in the Public Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa.

[4] Qobo, ‘Archives,’ 285.

[5] Hurley, ‘From Dust-bins to Disk-drives.

[6] Ricks, Swafford, and Gow, Information and Image Management; Roper and Millar, Managing Public Sector Records, 17.

[7] Mnjama, ‘National Archives and the Challenges of Managing the Entire Life Cycle of Records’ and ‘Archival Landscape in Eastern and Southern Africa,’ 465.

[8] Mnjama, ‘Archives and Records Management in Kenya.

[9] ESARBICA, Minutes of Executive Board Meeting, Harare, Zimbabwe, 23 – 24 July 2001.

[10] Harper, ‘An Assessment of the Functioning of the National Archives of Namibia and the Way Forward,’ 58.

[11] Mwango, ‘Bringing Order Out of Disorder Towards Good Government,’ 22; Harper, ‘An Assessment of the Functioning of the National Archives of Namibia and the Way Forward,’ 73.

[12] Thurston, ‘Records Management in Africa.

[13] Mazikana, ‘Editorial.

[14] ESARBICA was established in 1969. Further information is available from http://www.geocities.com/esarbica. (All websites quoted in this study were accessible at the time of submitting this article for publication.)

[15] Carbone and Gueze, Draft Model Law on Archives, 26; Ketelaar, Archival and Records Management Legislation and Regulations, 104.

[16] All the 13 archival laws of the countries in the region that appear in Archivum and websites were reviewed.

[17] See Ketelaar, Archival and Records Management Legislation and Regulations, 102 – 13.

[18] Hurley, ‘From Dust-bins to Disk-drives’ and ‘From Dust-bins to Disk-drives and Now to Dispersal.

[19] Parer, Archival Legislation for the Commonwealth.

[20] Harris, Verne. ‘Law, Evidence and Electronic Records: A Strategic Perspective from the Global-Periphery,’ Comma: International Journal on Archives, 1/2, 2001, 29 – 43.

[21] ‘International Council on Archives Submits Report on E-Records to UNESCO,’ 2004. Available from http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php.

[22] Ketelaar, Archival and Records Management Legislation and Regulations, 102 – 13.

[23] Meshanko, ‘What Should Our Mission Statement Say?

[24] Shepherd and Yeo, Managing Records, 68.

[25] Kenya National Archives and Documentation Service, Annual Report; Barata et al., From Accounting to Accountability (Namibia: A Case Study); Barata et al., From Accounting to Accountability (Tanzania: A Case Study); and Barata et al., From Accounting to Accountability (Zimbabwe: Case Study).

[26] Archives Authority of New South Wales, What is Records Management?

[27] The term ‘inspection’ is commonly used in official circles in South Africa to refer to ‘surveys’, and the terms are used interchangeably in this article.

[28] Directorate State Archives and Heraldic Services, Annual Report, 11.

[29] Carbone and Gueze, Draft Model Law on Archives, 23.

[30] Penn, Pennix, and Coulson, Records Management Handbook, 40.

[31] Barata et al., From Accounting to Accountability (Zimbabwe: Case Study); Barata et al., From Accounting to Accountability (Namibia: A Case Study).

[32] Dlamini, ‘Strategic Planning in the National Archives of Swaziland,’ 28.

[33] Mutiti, ‘ESARBICA in the Next Millennium.

[34] Kemoni and Wamukoya, ‘Preparing for the Management of Electronic Records.

[35] Although the variables that were measured were somehow arbitrarily chosen from the literature, most of the records management elements are from Robek, Brown, and Stephens, Information and Records, 9.

[36] Couture, ‘Today's Students, Tomorrow's Archivists.

[37] Guercio, ‘Standardizing Archival Practice.

[38] Rhys-Lewis, ‘The Role of Conservation and Preservation in the Archives of Developing Countries.

[39] Shepherd and Pringle, ‘Mapping Descriptive Standards Across Domains.

[40] Tough, ‘Records Management Standards and the Good Governance Agenda in Commonwealth Africa.

[41] Penn, Pennix, and Coulson, Records Management Handbook, 119; Chinyemba and Ngulube, ‘Managing Records at Higher Education Institutions.

[42] Craig, Barbara L., Archival Appraisal: Theory and Practice. Munchen: K. G. Saur, 2004, 60 – 61.

[43] Cook, ‘From the Record to its Context.

[44] Leary, ‘The Archival Appraisal of Photographs’; Ngulube, ‘Archival Appraisal and the Future of Historical Research in Southern Africa.

[45] Garaba, ‘An Investigation into Archival Appraisal Practices.

[46] ESARBICA, Minutes of the Executive Board Meeting, Maputo, Mozambique, 22 – 23 July 2003.

[47] Harper, ‘An Assessment of the Functioning of the National Archives of Namibia and the Way Forward,’ 85.

[48] National Archives of the Netherlands et al., ‘Preservation of Archives in Tropical Climates’; Ngulube, ‘Preservation and Access to Public Records and Archives in South Africa.

[49] Jenkinson, A Manual of Archive Administration, 43.

[50] Barata, ‘Archives in the Digital Age.

[51] Phillips, ‘The Challenge of Web Site Records Preservation.

[52] Stephens, ‘Digital Preservation.

[53] Cain and Thurston, Personnel Records, 13.

[54] Ngulube, ‘Implications of Technological Advances for Access to the Cultural Heritage of Selected Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa’; Cain and Thurston, Personnel Records.

[55] Bearman, ‘An Indefensible Bastion,’ 14 – 24.

[56] Hedstrom, ‘Archives as Repositories,’ 25 – 30.

[57] Duranti, ‘Archives as a Place.

[58] Lor, ‘Preserving African Digital Resources.

[59] Bugeja and Dimitrova, ‘Decay Rate for Online Citations.

[60] Matangira, ‘Audiovisual Archiving in the Third World.

[61] Harrison, ‘Conservation and Preservation of Audiovisual Materials.

[62] National Archives of the Netherlands et al., ‘Preservation of Archives in Tropical Climates.

[63] ESARBICA, Minutes of the Executive Board Meeting, Arusha, Tanzania, 5 – 6 June 2000.

[64] ESARBICA, Minutes of Executive Board Meeting, Harare, Zimbabwe, 23 – 24 July 2001.

[65] Matangira, ‘Audiovisual Archiving in the Third World,’ 45.

[66] Murphy, Television and Video Preservation 1997.

[67] Gracy and Cloonan, ‘The Preservation of Moving Images.

[68] Hendriks, ‘The Preservation and Restoration of Photographic Materials in Archives and Libraries.

[69] National Archives of Zimbabwe, Annual Report, 8; Harper, ‘An Assessment of the Functioning of the National Archives of Namibia and the Way Forward,’ 86.

[70] Ritzenthaler, Preserving Archives and Manuscripts, 38.

[71] Hendriks, ‘The Preservation and Restoration of Photographic Materials in Archives and Libraries.

[72] Ibid.; Norris, ‘Caring for Your Photographic Collections.

[73] Ngulube, ‘Preservation and Access to Public Records and Archives in South Africa.

[74] Cook, ‘The Place of Archives and Archives as Place,’ 15.

[75] Ngulube, ‘The Marketing of Archival Services and Products in East and Southern Africa.

[76] Ericson, ‘Preoccupied With Our Own Gardens.

[77] Ngulube, ‘The Marketing of Archival Services and Products in East and Southern Africa.

[78] Callinicos and Odendaal, ‘Report on Archives in South Africa.

[79] Ketelaar, ‘Archives of the People, for the People, by the People.

[80] Kizza, Ethical Issues in the Information Age, 15.

[81] For more insights into the need to have an agreed view about professional ethical behaviour, see Hurley, ‘Ethical Dilemmas in Records Management.

[82] Mazikana and Ngulube, Report on a Workshop on Standards and Ethics in Records Management and Archives.

[83] Ngulube, ‘Professionalism and Ethics in Records Management in the Public Sector in Zimbabwe.

[84] For a detailed discussion on the shortcomings of codes of ethics, see Ketelaar, ‘Archivalization and Archiving.

[85] Carbone and Gueze, Draft Model Law on Archives.

[86] Ngulube, ‘The Marketing of Archival Services and Products in East and Southern Africa,’ 22.

[87] Johnson et al., ‘Impact Evaluation, Professional Practice, and Policy Making.

[88] Historical Manuscripts Commission, Archives at the Millennium.