In the past few decades, digital technology has found a place in the acquisition, arrangement, description, preservation, and dissemination of information. However, heritage institutions are perturbed by the challenges of digital preservation strategies particularly for education. Despite continuous investment in digital preservation, there are limited skilled professionals to equip learners with the knowledge, skills and competencies required to drive digital preservation in Botswana. Therefore, this paper investigated the knowledge, skills and competencies related to digital preservation in the teaching curricula of the Department of Library and Information Studies (DLIS) at the University of Botswana. Data collection was done through intensive structured interviews with specific educators who teach courses on digital preservation in the archives and records management stream. The study revealed that despite the fact that the educators in preservation courses are aware of current trends in digital preservation, most of them have not obtained formal degree certification specific to digital preservation. The findings further revealed that minimal digital preservation competencies are observed in the teaching curricula. A significant number of challenges observed illustrated mainly a lack of resources and limited skills in terms of practical demonstrations by educators. The curricula mostly lacked clarity on long-term and short-term digital preservation. The study recommends that DLIS and other institutions should conduct surveys or curriculum auditing on digital preservation in order to improve the teaching content. A significant number of shortcomings regarding digital preservation that could motivate further studies are also discussed under the conclusion and recommendations section of this study.
This chapter discusses the long-term preservation and access to audio-visual (AV) archives at the Botswana National Archives and Records Services (BNARS). The principal guidance to the study was attributed to international preservation guidelines, standards, and best practices. The study adopted a qualitative approach, along with the employment of these data collection methods: interviews, observation, and document review. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the target population, which included the deputy director, senior archivist, and the archives officer. Data was subjected to thematic analysis in line with the set objectives. The key research findings of the study indicated that there were no long-term preservation strategy for AV archives at BNARS, there was absence of archival access and no acquisition policies in place, various types of AV materials were all stored under the same roof and under the same climatic conditions. Furthermore, some AV archives were not processed thus making it hard to identify, retrieve, and make them accessible for use. Additionally, the research reflected that there was lack of requisite special technical skills needed for long-term preservation of AV archives. Finally, the study revealed that there was no specific budget for the long-term preservation of AV archives at BNARS. In conclusion, therefore, the study recommends that, BNARS develop a holistic AV preservation strategy to ensure the long-term availability and accessibility of AV archives for future use.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.