Date of this Version
4-20-2026
Document Type
Article
Citation
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Abstract
Digitalisation of records management among other things, improves access to records and results in efficiency and effectiveness in the functions of an organisation. Because of the potential benefits of digitalisation, several governments globally have automated registries and records centres. However, governments in the Global South, Zambia inclusive have not digitalised the records sub sector. This study investigated the consequences of not digitalising registries and records centres in public service in Zambia. A survey research design was used combining both quantitative and qualitative research techniques. Data was collected from a sample 118 respondents and key informants. Qualitative data was collected through interviews from 30 key informants purposively selected among Head of registries and Information Technology while quantitative data was collected from 88 respondents randomly selected from registry clerks and officers. The findings of the study show that the failure to digitalise registries and records centres has compromised the backing up of records and there is a heightened shortage of storage space for paper records as observed by 62 percent and 56 percent of respondents respectively. Further, 56 percent of the respondents feel that failures to digitalise registries and records centres is leading to increased cases of records missing and displacement. However, over 67 percent of the respondents feel that despite the lack of digitalisation, they were able to retrieve the needed records in time. Considering above ramifications, it is recommended that government expediate the efforts to digitalise records management through deployment of electronic records management systems.
Comments
Published in Lusaka, Zambia.