PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess records management components, such as record scheduled, records appraisal, destroyed/disposed, retained, training of staff on the management of the student affairs records (SARs), provided access, the challenges associated with efficient management of SARs and strategies for effective management of SARs, to determine the extent the Student Affairs Department (SAD) complies with the University of Mpumalanga (UMP) records management policy.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses qualitative methodology of a triangulation of data collection and this included interviews, document analysis and observation.FindingsThe literature review, as well as the interview, revealed that findings on the UMP records management policy are multi-layered. A number of participants mentioned lack of records centre, records retention and appraisal of records, records management training and managing access to information as a challenge to the management of SARs.Research limitations/implicationsThe research was only limited to the UMP, Student Affairs Division, with a population of 15 staff members even though the findings can be applied to all the universities in South Africa.Practical implicationsSAD has a unique contribution to make to ensure that records created within their division are managed in terms of the UMP records management policy by ensuring that components such as records storage retention and appraisal of records management training and managing access to information are adhered to.Social implicationsFailure to comply with the UMP records management policy by the Student Affairs Division will contribute to the loss of institutional memories, non-compliance with legislations such as Promotion of Access to Information Act 2000, National Archives and Records Services Act 46 of 1996 and the Protection of Personal Information Act No 4. Of 2013.Originality/valueThe research appears to be the first of its kind, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to assess SARs at the UMP, South Africa.
Purpose The purpose of this study is to assess whether the implementation of the electronic Court Records Management System (CRMS) at the Gaborone Magisterial District, Botswana, brought improvements in the delivery of justice as expected in the management of case file records. Design/methodology/approach Principally, a quantitative approach utilizing a research survey design, supplemented by a qualitative approach was used in this study. Findings The CRMS implementation led to improvements in case file management at the Gaborone Magisterial District; case files were successfully captured into the system; retrieval of case files became easier; and incidents of lost and misplaced case files went down significantly. Challenges included shortcomings related to the security of digital case files, digital records preservation and disposition, records appraisal, training, inadequate bandwidth and shortage of computers, as well as inadequate archives and records management standards and guidelines. Research limitations/implications The findings of the study are limited to the case study and cannot be generalized to other organizations. Practical implications The findings should aid future implementation of court records management systems in the judiciary specifically and the public sector in general in Africa. Lessons learnt can enable the avoidance of pitfalls experienced in the implementation of CRMS by other courts. Originality/value This paper provides empirical evidence from an original study.
PurposeThis paper seeks to suggest ways of understanding the relationships between records and documents.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews some of the statements made about records and documents in professional literature. It also offers some thoughts on the connections between records and documents in digital and pre‐digital environments and their intersections with other concepts such as “data”.FindingsAlthough professionals have often seen records and documents as closely intertwined, this paper argues that the record and the document follow different logics. Documents are characterised by their format, records by their relation to activities, events or other temporal occurrents. Records need not be in documentary form, and can exist at multiple levels of aggregation. The notion that documents become records when they are “declared” is problematic. Capture and declaration do not determine record status, but if capture systems are robust they allow the power of the record to be harnessed to the fullest possible extent.Originality/valueThe paper seeks to explicate some basic concepts of the professional discipline.
WHhat records do we keep for business purposes? In my opinion, far too many. If we re‐phrase the question, what records should we keep for business purposes, I am confident that the answer is, or should be, as few as possible. Alas, this precept is not generally followed in industry, with the result that a great deal of space which could be more productively employed is wasted, and much unnecessary labour is expended on the maintenance of records which are not essential to business.
The fourth industrial revolution has created many challenges for records and information management. This chapter provides an overview of the field of records management and describes the fourth industrial revolution and its impact. Further, it identifies several challenges to the profession of records manager, such as the effect of cloud computing, big data, mobile devices, and financial and ethical concerns. The author investigates how records managers can keep up to date with the changes in their profession by training and continuing education opportunities. Finally, the author discusses some possible solutions to the many challenges records managers face so that they can do their jobs effectively.
Records and information management, in this exponentially growing technological era, has enjoyed its relevance but has also weakened its competitiveness as organizations seek to search for faster way to access information, make decisions, and ultimately, retain indefinitely everything in cyberspace. This phenomenon and paradigm shift create a disconnect in the retention period assignment as cost for space in the cloud is no longer a deterrent as many CEOs may equate same to the compensation of a records manager. This chapter looks at the strategies that practitioners can employ to address risks. The risk matrix connects the variables legal, control, compliance, and fiduciary deliverables for a sustained salable and winning environment. The coordinated strategies will reposition practitioners and ultimately restructure the change management agenda of the organization. It is experiential and allows practitioners an opportunity to use templates as aids.
This chapter examines the literature of healthcare in the United States during the transitioning to electronic records. Key government legislation, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), which were part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the Affordable Health Care Act, are reviewed. The review concentrates on patient privacy issues, how they have been addressed in these acts, and what recommendations for improvement have been found in the literature. A comparison of the adoption of electronic health records on a nationwide scale in three countries is included. England, Australia, and the United States are all embarking in and are at different stages of implementing nationwide electronic health database systems. The resources used in locating relevant literature were PubMed, Medline, Highwire Press, State Library of Pennsylvania, and Google Scholar databases.