The Challenges of Managing Electronic Records in the ESARBICA Region

Every organisation, be it private or public, generates records to document actions, outline goals and programmes, identify rights and privileges and communicate information. The great advances made in the use of information technology (IT) in recent years has revolutionised communication both within and outside the organisation, and also the way in which information is stored and retrieved. This has brought great professional challenges to archivists who, for years, were content to work in the secure world of unchanging paper records. At issue therefore is the ability of archivists to process and manage all records, irrespective of storage media, according to acceptable archival standards and guidelines in order to fulfil their mandate and obligations. ESARBICA Journal Vol.20 2001: 57-61