Dublin Core
Title
DIGITISATION OF RECORDS AND ARCHIVES AT TWO SELECTED
STATE UNIVERSITIES IN ZIMBABWE
STATE UNIVERSITIES IN ZIMBABWE
Creator
GODFREY TSVUURA
PATRICK NGULUBE
Description
This study focused on the digitisation of records and archives at two selected state universities in
Zimbabwe, namely Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) and Harare Institute of Technology (HIT).
The specific objective was to evaluate the legal and statutory frameworks for managing the
digitisation of records and archives at the state universities. The legislative and statutory
imperatives in Zimbabwe, the exponential growth in digitised records and archiving in the state
universities and the lack of capacity of records personnel with regard to the management of digital
records and archives, motivated this study. The records of the state universities are stored on
network servers that the university can access. However, individual users are often able to copy or
move them to individual desktops and portable devices that are beyond the university’s control.
The study adopted a mixed methods convergent parallel research design and collected data through
questionnaires and interviews. The data collection instruments provided both quantitative and
qualitative data. Quantitative data were analysed using the SPSS analytical software package,
while qualitative data were organised into broad themes and the content reported in narrative form.
The findings were that both respondents and participants understand the records management
functions in their universities and both state universities are busy creating policies and procedures
for the digitisation of records and archives in their business transactions. The findings further
indicated that the two state universities were digitising their records and archives using untrained
personnel. Legislation, policies, and standards and procedures were not enforced. This exposed
the materials to major threats and risks in terms of their integrity, security and authenticity. The
study recommended that there the legal and statutory frameworks must be formulated,
implemented and enforced to cater for the digitisation of records and archives at state universities
in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe, namely Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) and Harare Institute of Technology (HIT).
The specific objective was to evaluate the legal and statutory frameworks for managing the
digitisation of records and archives at the state universities. The legislative and statutory
imperatives in Zimbabwe, the exponential growth in digitised records and archiving in the state
universities and the lack of capacity of records personnel with regard to the management of digital
records and archives, motivated this study. The records of the state universities are stored on
network servers that the university can access. However, individual users are often able to copy or
move them to individual desktops and portable devices that are beyond the university’s control.
The study adopted a mixed methods convergent parallel research design and collected data through
questionnaires and interviews. The data collection instruments provided both quantitative and
qualitative data. Quantitative data were analysed using the SPSS analytical software package,
while qualitative data were organised into broad themes and the content reported in narrative form.
The findings were that both respondents and participants understand the records management
functions in their universities and both state universities are busy creating policies and procedures
for the digitisation of records and archives in their business transactions. The findings further
indicated that the two state universities were digitising their records and archives using untrained
personnel. Legislation, policies, and standards and procedures were not enforced. This exposed
the materials to major threats and risks in terms of their integrity, security and authenticity. The
study recommended that there the legal and statutory frameworks must be formulated,
implemented and enforced to cater for the digitisation of records and archives at state universities
in Zimbabwe
Publisher
JOURNAL OF SASA
Date
2020
Position: 138 (54 views)