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The purpose of this paper is to report findings from an investigation on the information culture and recordkeeping in two Chinese companies, exploring the interaction between information culture and recordkeeping.

On the basis of systematic literature review, this research investigates the information culture and recordkeeping in two Chinese companies by conducting in-depth interviews with the staff of the two companies.

The attitude of the leadership and the staff towards records and information is different in the result-oriented information culture and rule-following culture. If a company aims to stay innovative and competitive, an information culture that can facilitate the good governance of records and information should be developed, and information professionals can play a key role in working towards this.

As a qualitative study of information culture and recordkeeping in Chinese companies, this paper provides the insight into the interaction between information culture and recordkeeping, demonstrates the impact of information culture on information governance and identifies the factors influencing information culture in an organization.

The archival communitys interest in building records management programs has known a recent development at international level and in various sectors. This is increasingly relevant in the area of corporate records, where the RM principles and methods have been seriously neglected – specifically in the Italian tradition, investigated here. This new interest has many causes – among others, the improvement of business procedures whose efficiency and effectiveness are strictly required in the information society – but presents also contradictions usually not discussed enough within each tradition. The article tries to analyse both the problems and advantages connected with the organization of a RM system in a corporate environment, including as a basic component a summary of the theory and practice developed in Italy in this area and recently updated for digital resources.

This paper aims to draw on a family business perspective to explore the historic accounting records of an Italian liquorice juice business. The applicability of the three-circle model of family business systems to such an historic context is examined.

Using archival records, the Cassa accounting book of the business is studied. Its transactions are examined to distinguish family and business items over the period from 1875 to 1920.

Through an analysis of the accounting records, the family, ownership and business systems are shown to overlap more than typically expected in a contemporary setting.

Contemporary literature suggests the three-circle model of a family business is relatively static, but it has not been applied to an historic context. This study suggests that the model can be applied in historic studies, but it is not static over time with its elements needing refinement.

The purpose of this paper is to assess examples of digital recordkeeping practice in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) and determine whether the discipline is tipping into a period where digital recordkeeping will change for the better, or whether it is tipping into digital oblivion. After assessing numerous case studies and examples, the paper also seeks to recommend some small but significant steps that can be taken to stem the tide and improve digital recordkeeping practices.

The approach is based on the authors' experiences and observations of recordkeeping practice in NSW.

Digital records and recordkeeping are at a critical juncture across all business environments. The tremendous benefits that digital records and recordkeeping can realise are in danger of being offset by significant threats, complexities and costs. All individuals, organisations and business environments need to take small steps now to start to make digital recordkeeping achievable and to make long‐term digital record sustainability possible.

The case studies presented in this paper provide both positive and negative digital recordkeeping scenarios for practitioners to consider. The paper also makes a number of practical suggestions that all recordkeeping environments can reflect on to tip the balance in favour of achievable and sustainable digital recordkeeping.

The paper is of value to all practitioners seeking to implement and sustain effective digital records management.

The purpose of this study is to explore how the trustworthiness of digital records generated in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system known as the government accounting and budgeting system (GABS) is maintained to support the audit process in the public sector of Botswana.

This qualitative study used modern archival diplomatics as a theoretical framework to examine the procedures for authenticating digital accounting records in GABS to support the audit process in Botswana. Data were collected through interviews and documentary reviews.

The study established that although GABS is not a record-keeping system, it generates digital records. In the absence of procedures, auditors rely on social and technical indicators (system application controls) to authenticate records.

The findings of the study are limited to the case study and cannot be generalised to other organisations.

The findings of the study can inform the necessary measures that can be taken to ensure that digital records generated in ERPs are maintained authentic to support financial auditing processes. In addition, the paper also presents differing approaches by records managers, auditors and information technology specialists to evaluate the authenticity of records in digital systems, thus contributing to the literature about professional allies and competitors to archivists and records managers.

This paper provides empirical evidence from an original study.

Government entities often implement automated records management systems, often without a clear governing framework to facilitate such automation. This study aims to explore the role played by information architecture (IA) in records automation in Botswana and propose a guiding framework in the context of e-government.

This qualitative study uses a focused literature review to study the importance of IA in records automation in e-government.

Without proper IA, information organization including retrieval/access to records becomes difficult. Practically, this would practically and negatively affect process automation in e-government solutions.

The proposed framework can guide e-government record automation in Botswana. However, its limitation lies in the fact that it has not been tested, thereby limiting its practicality until tested empirically.

The proposed framework can be used to inform record automation management processes in the realm of Botswana’s e-government project.

The proposed framework contributes to the body of knowledge on the automation of records and e-government in Botswana specifically and Africa in general.

This paper aims to discuss the disconnection between the recognized centrality of the functional approach to records management and archives and the actual understanding of functions that scholars, practitioners, and records creators seem to have. It suggests that records professionals should consider functions not in the abstract but in the specific socio‐cultural contexts in which they are enacted.

After analyzing the main theoretical and methodological issues concerning the concept of function and the application of the functional approach, the paper reports some findings of an empirical study of function‐based records classification systems conducted by the author in four different organizations in Europe and North America.

The multiple‐case study research confirmed that the meaning of both function and classification are subject to various interpretations, that a number of non‐functional factors are involved in the creation of function‐based tools, and that records professionals find available explanations of functional methods confusing. The findings also indicate that there is a relationship between organizational cultures and the ways in which business and records processes are perceived and translated into practice.

This study provides a number of suggestions that may be used to improve the analysis of functions and business processes for any records management purposes. In particular, it discusses some of the non‐functional and cultural factors that influence the design and implementation of function‐based records classification systems. However, more empirical research is needed in order to broaden our understanding of functions in real‐world organizations.

Based on a broad selection of professional literature on the functional approach, this paper presents the original findings of an empirical study that uses qualitative methods to analyze and interpret the data collected. It is hoped that it will inspire more exploratory research of this kind in the records management area.

This research seeks to determine the extent and direction of computerization of records systems in businesses with identifiable records departments. The data collection methodology was on‐site interviews and inspection of facilities in ten businesses selected from cities with populations of more than 100,000 in the western United States. The findings indicate that records managers are rapidly installing computer programs for tracking records. There was little evidence that traditional paper records were being moved to a digital format though the possibility was mentioned frequently. Records management and data processing departments cooperate, but no trend to integrate them is evident.

This paper aims to outline the concepts of web services architectures and to begin an exploration of the uses that recordkeeping professionals may define for such a potentially radical change to the way recordkeeping functionality is delivered.

The paper combines narrative with argument and analysis of the issues surrounding records management.

The paper shows that the digital world has introduced new challenges to recordkeeping professionals. The initial response has been to transfer traditional recordkeeping systems to automated solutions. Increasingly these are being challenged for fit in dynamic organizational environments. Web services as a building block for next generation software applications are growing in acceptance both in governments and innovative product offerings.

Recordkeeping professionals should ensure that they are very firmly grounded in best professional practice in recordkeeping to grasp such a technology opportunity.

The purpose of this paper is to show that the digital world has introduced new challenges to recordkeeping professionals.

The initial response has been to transfer traditional recordkeeping systems to automated solutions. Increasingly these are being challenged for fit in dynamic organizational environments. Web services as a building‐block for next generation software applications are growing in acceptance both in governments and innovative product offerings.

The paper outlines the concepts of web services architectures and begins an exploration of the uses that recordkeeping professionals may define for such a potentially radical change to the way recordkeeping functionality is delivered.

The paper challenges recordkeeping professionals to ensure that they are very firmly grounded in best professional practice in recordkeeping to grasp such a technology opportunity.