Research and documentation in the electronic age with 2009mba update

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Share this book Facebook. October 8, History. An edition of Research and documentation in the electronic age Bibliometric analysis is a common technique used for quantitative analysis of literature. To explore research outputs over given time, access to relevant data is obtainable from reputable databases.

Data for this study were produced from Scopus. The Scopus database was searched to retrieve the indexed research output on electronic records management publications between and Scopus is hosted by Elsevier and is one of the largest databases of peer-reviewed literature; scientific journals, books and conference proceedings.

The database provides different searching and browsing options that offer the ability to measure research outputs by affiliation, author, country, etc. Only primary articles listed in the Scopus database were considered for the study.

Secondary documents are documents not available in Scopus database, but are extracted from reference lists in Scopus documents. The data contain many inaccuracies and a single article may be referenced differently and wrongly in different articles, thus, it may be presented as different articles. This limitation of secondary data called for thorough manual analysis for their inclusion in the research data. The search was inclusive of all languages. The research study included and analysed only published journal articles, conference papers, book chapters, thesis and reviews.

The data were analysed both manually and using the Scopus inbuilt data analysis tools. The tools offer the researcher option to analyse data on citation count, affiliation, country and subject and document type.

The retrieved data on articles were exported in a comma-separated value file and were downloaded for manual analysis. A total of documents were from undefined countries.

After manual analysis of the documents from the undefined countries, an article was identified by an author affiliated to the University of South Africa, which added the tally of retrieved documents under the used search query to 48 documents.

A citation count analysis was done on the retrieved information to identify the productivity and the total citations received on the articles that indicate their impact, prestige or influence Chadegani, et al. The citation analysis was to identify the stand-out articles that have been referenced more by other authors and to analyse their research design in the field of electronic records management. Understanding the context and relationship of the ESARBICA research output to the world output, on the subject matter under study a pictorial presentation of world publication data is imperative.

The vice versa is also valid. Figure 1 presents a graphical representation of the amount of research publications produced over for the period from to The chart depicts that the peak periods of publishing were from to when huge volumes of documents were produced. The data show a steady increase in the number of articles produced annually worldwide on the subject of electronic records management for the periods , which were articles, for to and 1, for with the period producing 1, documents.

The chart shows the number of articles published annually, with and having the highest number of articles published over the year period. As depicted in Figure 2 , the research output from the ESARBICA region has been lamentably constant for the period of the early , with a steep increase from to Although the comparisons in scientific output in specific subject areas are difficult due to a number of factors that include scarcity of resources, the number of core researchers in electronic records management and engagement in longitudinal studies that limit the publication capabilities of researchers over time, the figures are less impressive.

To better analyse the contributions of the region in building the body of knowledge in electronic records management, an analysis of individual member country publishing count is essential. Figure 3 is a graphical representation of the retrieved documents by country published and indexed by Scopus. The results pose a worrying and bleak picture in terms of the academic outputs from the professionals and scholars in electronic records management.

Academic published articles and conference papers contributed the huge volumes of materials indexed in the database. Different permutations can be derived from the data that may be related to low funding for the professionals interested in the subject matter to undertake more research and publish materials.

For the period under review, the data show that on average, two research articles were being published every year in the region.

In as much as the contribution is proportional, they have made significant strides to stimulate and drive academic and professional discourse in electronic records management.

Only articles with the highest citation index were included in Table I , with 12 citations being the highest citation count when data were being analysed during authorship of this paper. The least cited paper to be included in the table had a citation count of five, which was the average high of the articles published in the region under the review period.

Citation implies the relationship between a part or whole of the cited document and a part of the whole of the citing documents Smith, , p. A high citation index for an article is believed to be underlined by assumptions that include citation of a document implying use of that document by the citing author for reasons that may include paying homage to pioneers, correcting or criticising previous work, authenticating data or classes of fats, substantiating claims, citation of a document reflecting the merit of that document, author, journal, etc.

Garfield, , p. The articles presented below all have high citation indexes as compared to other articles that have been included in this research study. Table I presents a synopsis of the highly cited publications in the region. The table shows an equal use of both literature review and empirical research methods as main source of information and data for the research publications that have been highly cited in the region.

There is need to improve and increase on empirical-based research methods that are evidence based, as these will entail that studies can be empirically inspectable and confirmable. The study sought to review the status of e-records management in east and southern Africa and it examined the e-records readiness in institutions with statutory responsibility for records and the implications of e-records management for governance.

The problem under study was that the region faces major challenges with regard to the management of records and archives due to historical, political, cultural, managerial and technological factors. The study also highlighted that the statutory institutions with responsibility for archives in the east and southern African region fall short of the e-readiness standards of the IRMT benchmarks.

The study also highlighted that the general e-readiness assessments that have been undertaken by SADC E-readiness Task Force in revealed that staff competencies, skills and tools needed to manage e-business processes and e-information in a shared work environment have not been adequately developed in many public sector organizations in east and southern African region.

The study also highlighted that among the records and information managers and national archivists, there was insufficient capacity and training to articulate e-records issues and provide guidance and input to policymakers and planners.

The study highlighted that at policy level, senior officials and legislators are often unaware of the requirement to manage electronic records over time. At the planning and operational level, systems designers and IT specialists tend to focus primarily on current information needs resulting in inadequate attention being paid to long-term preservation requirements [International Records ManagemenTrust IRMT , ].

There were no systematic strategies, that being implemented for making the transition from paper-based systems to electronic means where this is possible.

The study carried out by Mutiti also highlighted that in the east and southern African region, limited progress had been made in the area of managing electronic records created by public institutions. The study also highlighted that most countries had no specific legal or administrative framework within which to operate an electronic records management programme, and had neither begun to address the broader issues involved nor did their staff have the skills to do so.

Similarly, the national archives were not playing a role in the introduction of electronic government, and electronic records issues were not being addressed systematically.

Furthermore, problems facing the east and Southern African region included lack of digitization projects; general lack of prioritization of automation functions and services; lack of standards, practices and procedures for the management of electronic records; records creating agencies tended to overlook long-term preservation of electronic records; electronic records were being created in public institutions and some were being mismanaged and lost; and inability to determine appropriate hardware and software.

The paper presented challenges posed by electronic records as reported in the literature and the capacity-building initiatives and guidelines developed by archival institutions, professional organizations and universities for effective management of electronic records.

It proposed suggestions for further research. The paper was based on a review of literature on electronic records and empirical studies dealing with management of electronic records in the ESARBICA region. These relate to lack of policy and legislation, standardization, authenticity, capacity building, physical infrastructure and lack of awareness among recordkeeping professionals and government authorities on electronic records management issues, data, security of data, lack of computer skills on the part of registry staff and users and lack of electronic records policy.

The study aimed at examining capacity-building requirements for e-records management in east and southern Africa. The study pointed to the fact that e-records management problems and challenges include, but are not limited to, lack of skills and competencies, inadequate resources, lack of awareness among government authorities and records professionals, fragility of media and the need for specialized storage.

The study was a literature review in general and desk research based on professional consultation and the experiences of the authors within the region. The findings of the study generally indicated that there was a dearth of e-records management skills and inadequate capacity in the ESARBICA member countries.

The study also established that within ESARBICA, staff competencies, skills and tools needed to manage records in general and e-records, in particular, had not been adequately developed in many public sector organizations.

Wamukoya and Mutula a , b also established that records management in general and e-records management in particular in the ESARBICA region was severely under resourced resulting in inadequate capacity and skill gaps. The researchers therefore recommended that more research was therefore needed to cover the rest of the region.

The aim of the study was to investigate the challenges faced by national archival institutions in the ESARBICA, and depending on the results of the survey, recommend a programme of action to improve the management of public records and archives in the region. Data for the research were obtained through interviews, content analysis of documents and self-administered questionnaires that were mailed to the 13 member states that comprised ESARBICA.

Furthermore, the study noted that records management processes were neither governed by standards nor guided by a professional code of ethics.

The study findings also showed that records management staff were not adequately trained, electronic records were in danger of being lost due to benign neglect and legislation that mandated archival institutions to manage records through their life-cycle was not comprehensive in certain instances. The study also established that strategies used for public programming activities were rather limited and not clearly targeted at some archival institutions.

The study also highlighted that e-records management transformed the traditional mode of recordkeeping and brought with it some constraints which records managers had to contend with if they were to remain relevant in the information society.

The purpose of the study was therefore to examine the background of the problems brought about by e-records management, as well as the strategies for e-records management in Africa. The study reviewed relevant literature on archives development in Africa, electronic records, information technology and records management. The E-mail Address es field is required. Please enter recipient e-mail address es.

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