Dodos in the archives: rebranding the archival profession to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century within ESARBICA

Garaba, Francis

doi:10.1080/23257962.2015.1030609

Cited by 22 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…InterPARES Trust (2018) revealed that current curriculum needs for archival education in Africa included more practical experience to be derived from training in ICT. Archives and records management professionals in ESARBICA lack ICT-related skills and competencies such as digital curation, digital preservation, audio-visual and digital archiving, and digitization (Garaba 2015). The inclination towards traditional theory kept archival programmes behind, leaving graduates with what Garaba (2015:217) termed some "cosmetic practical exposure, spiced with little dosages of digital technologies."…”

Section: The Impact Of Icts On Records Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of records management in ensuring good governance in Africa

Mosweu

Rakemane²

2020

J. South Afr. Soc. Archiv.

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Proper records management is central to the promotion of good governance. Africa is a continent which has generally been riddled with poor governance. Principles of good governance such as accountability, transparency and the rule of law are ascertained with available records. Poor records management practices promote bad economic practices such as corruption and fraud. An assessment of the performance of government can thus be realised through proper records management and access to information. Good records management practices therefore lead to good governance and vice versa; thus, the role of records management in promoting good governance cannot be overemphasised. However, there are some likely impediments that may hinder the promotion of good governance through records management in the African context. This paper explored the role played by records management in ensuring good governance in Africa. It then suggests strategies to promote good governance through proper records management practices. The paper contends that outdated archival laws, backlog of unprocessed records and absence of access to information laws in some African countries are the major impediments to the promotion of good governance. The paper recommends an amendment of outdated laws and the promulgation of access to information legislation as major initiatives, among others, which put records management in the forefront of promoting good governance in the continent.

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Section: The Impact Of Icts On Records Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of records management in ensuring good governance in Africa

Mosweu

Rakemane²

2020

J. South Afr. Soc. Archiv.

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“…69 The numbers of students who qualify in these programs are very small and in the long run it may be very difficult for the higher education institutions to sustain these programs. Another important observation by Garaba 70 is the fact that practical training and work experience is very important in the training of archivists and records managers. However, the current training programs have very little, if any, practical training.…”

Section: Possible Interim Solutions For Preservation Of Digital Recormentioning

confidence: 99%

Archival orthodoxy of post-custodial realities for digital records in South Africa

Ngoepe

2017

Archives and Manuscripts

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Some public entities in South Africa have implemented digital records systems over a period of 20 years. In terms of the South African archival legal framework, there is a need for such entities to transfer the records into archival custody. However, there is consensus among researchers that there is no infrastructure to ingest digital records into archival custody in South Africa. Furthermore, some public entities have migrated from one system to another since implementation and there is a possibility that records might have been lost during migration. This study demonstrates through literature review the unconscious archival orthodoxy of post-custodial realities in South Africa. The study recommends that public entities should apply for exemption from archival legislation in order to develop an interim solution for the preservation of digital records. The National Archives and Records Service of South Africa (NARSSA) is also encouraged to develop a policy on distributed custody to allow government entities to create interim solutions for preserving digital records. Both public entities and NARSSA should invest in capacity development, including training and provision of sustainable infrastructure required to preserve digital records. It is hoped that this study will influence policy-making with regard to custody of digital records. Background to the problem Although public entities in South Africa began to implement systems to manage digital records in the early 1990s, these measures have not yet translated into a systematic program of digital transfers into archival custody in a digital repository. Bak 1 identifies major components or functions of digital repositories as metadata management systems, storage location, content management systems, authentication systems and digital preservation. While the implementation of digital records management has begun, the infrastructure for ingesting into a digital repository does not yet exist. As a consequence, to avoid the loss of important digital records in the near term, interim measures are needed and it is the purpose of this paper to identify what these could be. Among the agencies that have implemented digital records management is Rand Water, a water utility company in South Africa. This was one of the earliest public institutions to

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“…Marcum (2014) states that perhaps this is not occurring on a larger scale because the various training or education systems that archivists, librarians and museum curators have been part of did not encourage them to do so. Garaba (2015:2) in agreement with this point, suggests that institutions in the ESARBICA region that offer training for information professionals should educate their candidates in library, records, archives and cultural management to enable them to be more flexible and productive in the current information landscape.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…The idea of getting more people to appreciate and use archives is not new; it has been an ongoing issue in archival circles since the late 1970s (Dearstyne 1987; Blais and Enns 1991; Ericson 1991; Grabowski 1992; Ngulube 1999. Years later (Sulej 2014; Garaba 2015), this notion still stands.…”

Section: Purpose Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It would appear that libraries in the ESARBICA region are well ahead of museums and archives when it comes to providing access to information online (Garaba 2015). Garaba (2015:5) partly blames this on the failure of archival education in the ESARBICA region to expose students to digitisation, digital curation and preservation, audio visual and digital archiving. Among the other reasons for this failure are lack of funding and institutional support.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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To collaborate or not to collaborate, that is the question

Saurombe

Ngulube

2016

Information Development

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Public archives in east and southern Africa are functioning in a competitive information environment. Institutions such as libraries and museums also offer information, but fewer people utilise public archives. More effort is required to make archives a part of the daily lives of citizens in east and southern Africa. This study sought to explore whether or not public archives should collaborate with other information providers in their mission to increase social interaction with the archives. Directors of National Archives, archivists and members of the East and Southern Africa Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives (ESARBICA) Board were invited to shed light on their experiences and views regarding collaboration in outreach initiatives. The directors completed a questionnaire, while the archivists and board members participated in face-to-face interviews. Country reports from the different ESARBICA member states were also reviewed. The findings indicate that collaboration in outreach initiatives took place to a certain extent, but libraries and museums were rarely part of this. This paper recommends that public archives play a stronger role in collaborative efforts to improve their visibility and widen their outreach to the public in east and southern Africa. The findings provide an overview on collaborative outreach projects from the perspective of selected archivists from this region, and therefore cannot be generalised to represent the common views of this entire region.

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Dodos in the archives: rebranding the archival profession to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century within ESARBICA

Cited by 22 publications

References 12 publications

The role of records management in ensuring good governance in Africa

The role of records management in ensuring good governance in Africa

Archival orthodoxy of post-custodial realities for digital records in South Africa

To collaborate or not to collaborate, that is the question

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