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1 – 10 of over 1000Nkholedzeni Sidney Netshakhuma
The purpose of the study is to assess the role of political power and politics in selecting, creating and preserving Liberation Movement archives in South Africa.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study is to assess the role of political power and politics in selecting, creating and preserving Liberation Movement archives in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of literature focusing on liberations archives was carried out.
Findings
Politics and the associated power play an essential role in the selection, creation and preservation of liberation movement archives. The study found out that the African National Congress (ANC) selected the University of Fort Hare as the center to preserve liberation movements repatriated from all over the world to South Africa. The National Archives of South Africa did not play a role in the preservation of liberation movement archives. The study also noted that there existed an ineffective collaboration between the ANC and the National Archives of South Africa regarding the preservation of liberation movements archives.
Research limitations/implications
The study focused on the liberation movement archives created by the ANC of South Africa only.
Social implications
The establishment of liberation archives may promote social cohesion.
Originality/value
The liberation movement archives are a part of the history of South Africa and present perspectives on the history of the liberation of South Africa. This study, which builds on the post-colonial scholarship on liberation movement archives, discussed the significance of liberation archives.
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Nkholedzeni Sidney Netshakhuma
This paper aims to assess the role of archives in documenting African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL) records on the liberation struggle of South Africa from 1960 to 1990…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to assess the role of archives in documenting African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL) records on the liberation struggle of South Africa from 1960 to 1990 with a view to recommending the best method of collection and preservation of archival materials.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative data were collected through interviews with purposively selected employees of the African National Congress (ANC), the Nelson Mandela Foundation centre of memory, the national heritage and cultural studies at the University of Fort Hare, the National Archives of South Africa and provincial archives of South Africa. Interview data were augmented through content analysis of ANC documents such as policies, websites and annual reports.
Findings
The study found a gap of documentation of the role of archives in documenting ANCWL’s contribution to the liberation of South Africa. The National Archives of South Africa did not play a meaningful role to document the history of African National Women’s League in the liberation struggle of South Africa. There was also a lack of coordination of community archives that keep ANCWL archives materials. There is a need to embark on oral history and bilateral relations with overseas archival institutions to repatriate ANCWL archives to South Africa. Furthermore, contemporary history records about the ANCWL records need to be listed, arranged and described and made available to the public.
Research limitations/implications
The research is limited to the role played by the National Archives of South Africa and community archives such as the ANC archives, the Mayibuye Centre archives based at the University of Western Cape in documenting ANC and ANCWL and contemporary issues that impact the development of ANCWL records created from 1960 to 1990.
Practical implications
The findings are expected to be instrumental to document the history of women’s struggle for democracy in South Africa. The ANCWL collection may contribute to social cohesion to enable society to understand the role of ANCWL during the struggle for democracy in South Africa. While the literature on women’s archives is limited, there is still much research that needs to be conducted. Increasing the body of research will strengthen understanding of the role of the National Archives of South Africa and community archives on documenting women’s liberation struggle in South Africa.
Social implications
The document of women’s history would enrich the archival collection. This means that records with historical, cultural and social significance will be permanently preserved by archives.
Originality/value
The research appears to be the first of its kind to assess the documentation on the role of archives on documenting ANCWL. The archival heritage of women’s struggle for democracy forms part of the national archival heritage of South Africa as they bridge the gap of undocumented history of South Africa.
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Nkholedzeni Sidney Netshakhuma
This paper aims to analyse the current Southern African countries’ archives and records management legislations to identify the gaps and challenges. It is important to assess the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyse the current Southern African countries’ archives and records management legislations to identify the gaps and challenges. It is important to assess the role played by National Archives legislations within the preservation of heritage and history; private archives known as liberation archives; the transfer of archives; the disposal and retention of records, access, copyright management and skills; and development of staff.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a qualitative methodology through document analysis, interviews and observation. The sampling of the study comprised representatives from the selected Southern African National Archives (South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia).
Findings
The key findings revealed gaps of the archives and records management legislations in terms of definitions, transfer, disposal and transfer of records and accessibility. Some of the Southern African countries failed to use archives and records management legislation to promote accountability and governance.
Research limitations/implication
The research is limited to the following countries: Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa.
Practical implications
Archive and records management legislation which has gaps creates problems in terms of effective implementation of archives and records management programmes.
Social implications
The failure by Southern African countries to revise their National Archives legislations and clarify the role of National Archives will lead to loss of archival materials if not addressed.
Originality/value
Updated archives legislation contributes to the development of effective archives and records management programme.
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Nkholedzeni Sidney Netshakhuma
This paper aims to explore the role played by the National Archives of South Africa in human rights promotion and protection. The study examined the challenges that archivists…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the role played by the National Archives of South Africa in human rights promotion and protection. The study examined the challenges that archivists encounter when undertaking archival functions, such as acquisition, appraisal and access provision, that contribute to forming documentary archives crucial for human rights promotion and protection.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of literature dealing with acquisition, appraisal and access was used in this research. It was supplemented with interviews.
Findings
This paper provides recommendations of benefits in the field of archives management with a focus on the areas of acquisition, appraisal and access. The transformational discourse in the jurisdiction of archives management challenges archival institutions to be active players in selecting historical and cultural archives’ significance that is significant in human rights protections. However, despite judicial requirements that recommend the importance of archives, there is evidence that archival functions such as appraisal, acquisition and access are not being fully used, resulting in national archives institutions that are subject to irregularities that contribute to an unbalanced archives collection.
Research limitations/implications
The paper was limited only to the National Archives of South Africa.
Practical implications
The paper makes practical implications concerning the acquisition, appraisal and providing access to human rights records.
Social implications
Sufficient funding resource allocation ought to be provided to advance human rights promotion.
Originality/value
This paper offers informed recommendations to address the challenges of acquisition, appraisal and access provision of archive materials. The availability of archives materials reinforces the community by aiding to protect legal rights and prevent human rights violations. It was, thus, necessary to establish whether the National Archives of South Africa is actively building the archives collections that are important for human rights promotion and protection.
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Nkholedzeni Sidney Netshakhuma
This study aims to assess the role of the National Archives of South Africa (NARSSA) in promoting the preservation and management of private archives.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to assess the role of the National Archives of South Africa (NARSSA) in promoting the preservation and management of private archives.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used the qualitative method, and data was collected through unstructured questionnaires and interviews. In addition, purposive sampling was used to collect data from the selected archivist.
Findings
The study found that the NARSSA raised awareness on the preservation of private archives and is also in the process of reviewing the National Archives and Records Service Act 43 of 1996 to promote the preservation and management of private archives. The study also revealed that the role of the NARSSA in enforcing compliance with Section 14 of the National Archives and Records Service Act 43 of 1996 for the proper management and coordination of private archives was ineffective because of a lack of coordination, infrastructure, training and development.
Research limitations/implications
The qualitative data was obtained from three participants with the NARSSA and two selected from private archives. The sample is small to generalise results. The public–private cooperation in archives management is limited, and this is proved by the severely limited number of participants in the research. Furthermore, the private archive in this study is limited to the liberation movement archives institutions in South Africa.
Practical implications
This study could work as a stimulus for potential approaches to conduct further research on the possible kinds of cooperation between private–public archival organisations.
Social implications
The study is innovative, in that there are very few research investigations that focused on the cooperation between private and public archives in the African region and especially in South Africa.
Originality/value
The article makes a significant contribution to the area of private–public archival organisations, especially in South Africa. It will expand the knowledge on private–public archive cooperation and management in South Africa and the rest of the African continent.
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The idea of convergence of cultural institutions, especially the libraries, archives and museums (LAMS) to operate as one, has a long theoretical history which unfortunately has…
Abstract
Purpose
The idea of convergence of cultural institutions, especially the libraries, archives and museums (LAMS) to operate as one, has a long theoretical history which unfortunately has not been translated into practice. This subject has been discussed by a number of scholars but the implementation has just remained theoretical with only a few countries practically adopting such an organisational structure. In Africa, this concept of LAMS is yet to gain traction. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is aimed at proposing such LAMS structures for African nations, especially in Zimbabwe and South Africa considering the emergence of community “archives” which have blurred further the distinction between museology, archiving and librarianship. The motivation in advocating for the adoption of LAMS is also driven by the theory behind participatory archives which thrive on the advanced use of internet including social media platforms that can make it possible to have one-stop virtual archive on the cloud that also incorporates museums and libraries.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a concept paper which reviewed the literature on national and community archives in Zimbabwe and South Africa which were purposively selected because of their long history in archiving. This was done to come up with a proposed “independent” national heritage organisational structure. “Independent” structure because this paper was based on the assumption that the independence of decision-making in national archival structures in Zimbabwe and South Africa is compromised and biased towards the ethos of political parties’ ruling governments.
Findings
Proposed integrated framework for community archives into the sustainable national archival system which also incorporates the role that can be played by universities. The framework is likely to be feasible and of benefit in the countries that are struggling to have national mainstream independent archives which are just not paying allegiance to those who are in power.
Originality/value
This study is unique in the sense that it mixes LAMS and the concept of independent archival structure in a regional comparative nature that involves Zimbabwe and South Africa.
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To tell the story of a particular digitisation project with which the author has been closely involved, illustrating the problems and scope of the project and focusing especially…
Abstract
Purpose
To tell the story of a particular digitisation project with which the author has been closely involved, illustrating the problems and scope of the project and focusing especially on the issues relating to the selection of appropriate content.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based largely on personal involvement in the project and is the work of a historian who traces change over time.
Findings
The paper records the history of the project and discusses what has been achieved to date, problems were encountered along the way, and what has been done to try to resolve them.
Practical implications
There may be lessons to be learnt from this project for similar projects in other parts of the world.
Originality/value
This paper is the first study of DISA to be written by a historian.
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Nkholedzeni Sidney Netshakhuma
The purpose of this study was to investigate the state of appraisal with regard to compliance with archives and records management legislations (ARML), the archives and records…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to investigate the state of appraisal with regard to compliance with archives and records management legislations (ARML), the archives and records management policy (ARMP), reappraisal of records, capacity building, archives building and electronic records management (ERM) and to make a recommendation based on the research findings.
Design/methodology/approach
This study was based on the qualitative research technique. The research approach was a multiple case study comparing the previously advantaged and disadvantaged universities in South Africa.
Findings
The study found that ARML, ARMP, reappraisal of records and capacity building are essential for the appraisal of university records. The lack of appropriate appraisal theory/strategy led to a loss of institutional memory.
Research limitations/implications
This research was limited to the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) and the University of Venda (UNIVEN). These two institutions are representatives of the state of archiving in South Africa.
Practical implications
This research will serve a benchmark for other South African universities, intending to implement systematic disposal of records in compliance with legislations and policies.
Social implications
Failure by universities to appraise records will lead to the loss of institutional memory. This implies that history of institution will be lost if necessary measures are not taken.
Originality/value
There is very little, if any, research on the appraisal of South African universities’ records. The outcome of this research will benefit universities that are seeking to develop and implement appraisal strategies.
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Nkholedzeni Sidney Netshakhuma
The purpose of this study was to examine the strategies for the preservation of archival materials in the International Council on Archives Section on University and Research…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine the strategies for the preservation of archival materials in the International Council on Archives Section on University and Research Institution Archives (ICA SUV) by the members and to make recommendations for the digital archival preservation to continue its accessibility during the national lockdown because of COVID–19.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on the survey conducted on the ICA SUV members during the national lockdown. The study used a survey research methodology through e-mails as data collection instruments.
Findings
The key findings revealed that most of the sections on university and research institution archives lack digitization preservation strategies and most of their records are not accessible online, as most of their collections are still preserved manually through the paper-based system; furthermore, archivists are not fully trained on digital management. The paper recommends universities to develop preservation strategies to migrate records from the paper-based system to electronic records management system.
Research limitations/implications
The population of the study comprised ICA SUV members, who responded to the survey. Therefore, the sample size and geographical spread were inadequate for generalization of the findings. In conclusion, the study demonstrated that accessibility of the archives was dependent on the quality of digitized archives.
Practical implications
This study demonstrates that the development of a preservation strategy enhances access to archival materials during the national lockdown because of COVID–19.
Social implications
This paper highlights the plight of university archives and reiterates the need for urgent digitization of their archives of universities all over the world.
Originality/value
To the best of author’s knowledge, this paper appears to be the first to review the responsibilities of archivists now and in the future as the result of COVID–19. This study is confirmed to be on the positive side of COVID–19 and change the archive sector by adapting to information communication technology.
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