Institutional and Legal Frameworks Supporting the Digitisation of Records and Archives at Two Selected State Universities in Zimbabwe

Godfrey Tsvuura

doi:10.25159/2663-659X/10322

Authors

Godfrey Tsvuura zimbabwe open university

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-659X/10322

Keywords:

Digitisation, records and archives, paper records, records managers, archivists, National Archives of Zimbabwe Act

Abstract

This study seeks to examine the institutional and legal frameworks supporting the digitisation of records and archives at two selected state universities in Zimbabwe. The digitisation of records and archives has become a de-facto process at all state universities around the world as the move from paper-based to cloud-based records storage takes centre stage. In Zimbabwe, state universities, apart from their own legislative Acts, operate under the statutory requirements of the National Archives of Zimbabwe Act (Chapter 25:06) of 1986 as amended by Act 22 of 2001. It is a fact that the digitisation of records and archives is a new concept to most records officers and archivists at state universities. This paradigm shift of moving from paper-based to digitised records management has been coded as a revolution which—whether we like it or not—has dominated and challenged traditional paper record-keeping systems. The first objective of the study is to find out the institutional obligations of state universities in digitising records and archives. The second objective is to ascertain the legal framework for the digitisation of records and archives. The study adopts a qualitative research design. It draws data from interviews with key participants at the two selected state universities. Qualitative data were organised into broad themes, and the content was reported in a narrative form. The study used an emergent framework to code and categorise the data and group them into themes. A myriad of challenges was unearthed, which were found to potentially inhibit the digitisation of records and archives. The study, therefore, concludes that although state universities have taken steps towards supporting the digitisation of records and archives, more still needs to be done for an effective digitisation process. It recommends that state universities should first address issues of legislation, policies and skills for the effective digitisation of records and archives.

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