Records and Archives Management Essays

Parker [1977:161] says 'finding aids are the signposts which lead the archivists and the researcher to the information they are seeking about or from archives.' In this paper, the author is going to identify and explain the key finding aids used in accessing materials in an archival institution. Finding aids can be defined as descriptions of the holding of the archival institution so as to establish intellectual control. Intellectual control is necessary because archivists need to know what they have [records], what it contains, and where it is. Researchers need to know what exist in the archival institution, what materials it has on specific topics, and what is in each collection. Finding aids encompass a range of descriptive media such as registers,lists, guides, inventories and indexes. Parker [1977:159] says finding aids '...establish physical and intellectual control over holdings of an archive and make it possible to retrieve particular records or information fro

Accessibility of information when needed is important, in particular in libraries where thousands of books are stocked. In this paper the author is going to discuss professionalism and the professional activities in the cataloguing department A catalogue according to Ranganathan (2004:33) is to "show what the library has by a given author, on a given subject and in a given kind of a literature" Kumar (1975:1) defines a catalogue as a "work in which contents are arranged in a reasonable way, according to a set plan, or merely word by word" Cataloguing defined by Taylor (1992:3) as "the skill or ant... of organizing knowledge (information) for retrieval" usually cataloguing is done in the cataloguing department by professional cataloguers. Cataloguers are trained professionals. Professionalism requires them to be honest in their work. There might arise problems during the process of cataloguing, a professional cataloguer does not conceal err

Constitution of The Records and Archives Management Student Association of Zimbabwe [RAMSAZ]                                                    Preamble We, the members of Records and Archives Management Students Association of Zimbabwe do hereby establish this Constitution in order that our purpose be realized to its fullest extent. Article I - Name The name of the organization will be Records and Archives Management Students Association of Zimbabwe henceforth referred to as RAMSAZ Article II - Purpose RAMSAZ is established for the expressed purpose of:-       1 –Networking all Records, Archives and Library and Information Science students and staff from colleges, polytechnic   and universities in Zimbabwe 2 -Organizing social and sporting activities for records, archive and Information Science students and professionals. 3 -Help Records and Archives Management Students share essays and assignments through the publication of a student bulletin. 4 -Adv

ARTICLE SUMMARY This article defines the word preservation and explain components that are critical in the implementation of the preservation plan.Components identified and explained in this article are;getting top management support,conducting a conservation assessment,establishing preservation standards,setting priorities and choosing the suitable preservation solution.A full text of this article is 1575 words and 7 pages long INTRODUCTION Preservation is essential to records management in order to prevent information loss due to the deterioration of the records media. Roper [1999:37] says, 'Preservation planning is essential to good records and archives management. It is better to focus on preventative preservation measures and ensure adequate environmental and physical controls than to focus on conservation treatments for one object to the exclusion of others in the institution. Preservation policies and plans need to be coordinated with other organizational requirements.