E-Records readiness at the National archives of Zimbabwe

Abstract

With the adoption of e-government, large volumes of electronic records are being generated in several forms. As government services move online, electronic-records will be the basis for confiming pension and other entitlements, registering births and deaths, verifying citizenship and certifying voting rights, enabling the collection of taxes and census enumeration, supporting fiancial management and enabling audits and evaluations, helping resolve land claims, supporting litigation, documenting inter-governmental agreements, enabling economic planning, describing the government’s accomplishments, documenting its transgressions, monitoring the nation’s development and governance, and enabling countless other information intensive activities (IRMT 2004). Just as in paper-based records that are preserved at the national archives for public consumption, e-records should be awarded the same status and attention. Archival institutions should be able to accept electronic records produced by government departments since these records are vital to the operation of the country and interacting with its citizens. This article seeks to assess the electronic-readiness of the National Archives of Zimbabwe, since the management of e-records is one area that has challenged archivists and records managers, especially in developing countries. The article also aims to examine whether the archival institution has the necessary resources for the preservation of e-records. These archival resources include staff skills and the institutional infrastructure, both of which assist government departments in addressing the problems they face in promoting the archival perspective within government departments.