Records and Archives Management Essays

In an endeavor to make records accessible to both the government and to citizens, researchers and records professionals recommend an integrated records management program. In this paper the author is going to examine the rationale for developing an integrated records management program. An integrated records management program according to Millar[1999:20] '...recognizes that records follow a life-cycle and acknowledges the importance of caring for those records through a continuum of concept.' The Australian Standard 4390 as quoted from www.findarticles.com defines a records continuum as '...a consistent and coherent regime of management processes from the time of their creation of records...through to the preservation and use of records as archives.' This definition suggests an ideal integration for documents, records, and archives management. The continuum concept seeks to break the barrier between records managers and archivists and bring them togethe

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 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. " In this ar

This article defines the word communication and explains how communication can help achieve peace and stability in the world.The article explains how communication especially the print and electronic media help in creating and exchanging meanings,and show that there is intereletionships between media and conflict.It goes on to say the media can be a good peace builder if rightly used.A full text of this article is 1366 words and 6 pages long. The Role of Communication in Peace Building The world is bedeviled with conflicts. Analysts indicate that there seem to be an increase in these conflicts over the last hundred years. The million dollar question is, how can these conflicts be resolved? In this paper the author is going to explain the role of communication in peace building. To start with, the word communication can be defined as ''...the creation and exchange of meaning'' Dimbleby [1992]. Show J.W. 1992 defines communication as ''...a symb

This article defines the continuum and the life-cycle concepts.It explains what the continuum concept is all about and gives the benefits of the continuum concept in records management.The benefits includes a partnership between two groups of records professional,the records manager and the archivist,administration efficiency etc.The life-cycle had been explained as concept which give a sense of order among a host of its advantages in records management.A full text of this article has 1480 words and 7 pages long. Providing coherent and consistent service that meets user's needs has long been a challenge for records managers and archivists worldwide. It is even more challenging in a digital world. Timely access to accurate, reliable, authentic, complete, and readable records over time is always difficult for both users and custodians. In this paper, the author is going to highlight and explain the two key principles that govern the care of records and archives. The

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