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The purpose of this paper is to indicate that, with the proliferation of information communication technologies (ICT), electronic records are being generated in many public sector organisations in Africa, which has resulted in many challenges hitherto never experienced by archivists and records managers.

The paper reviews literature on ICT, records management and e‐governance and the challenges faced by archivists and records managers particularly in developing countries as they deal with records generated by ICT.

The paper shows that, while many governments have systems and procedures for managing paper‐based records, the same cannot be said for electronic records and other digital images.

The paper demonstrates that, without proper planning and adoption of various methods, e‐records created using modern ICT are likely to become inaccessible in the future, thus compromising the ability to remain accountable to the citizens.

The paper shows that, while various e‐records readiness tools are available in the West, none of them addresses e‐records readiness issues in Africa where systems and procedures for managing records both paper and electronic are inadequate. The article provides a simple tool for assessing a country's e‐readiness for the adoption of e‐records in an e‐government environment.

This study aims to investigate the management of electronic records (e-records) in public universities in Malawi.

This study adopted a case study research design that made use of predominantly qualitative research methods. Data was collected at three study sites, namely, Mzuzu University, Malawi University of Science and Technology and the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences. A purposive sample of three officers per institution (and nine in total) comprising executive officers, deputy university registrar, records clerk, information and communication technology (ICT) directors and ICT manager was attained. The researcher personally conducted the interviews with the research subjects with the aid of interview guides. Observations were also done, whose findings were recorded in the observation protocols. The data collected was transcribed in MS Word, coded and analysed thematically.

This study concluded that e-records are at high risk in public universities in Malawi. Irrespective of this situation, this study found that there were some areas for e-records to potentially thrive in public universities in Malawi.

This study covers three of the six public universities in Malawi. Although public universities in Malawi have similar governance structures, there are some noticeable differences that distinguish one institution from the other. It is, therefore, possible that findings made in this study may not completely represent the prevailing situation in all public universities.

Studies of this nature have not been done before in public universities in Malawi. It is, therefore, hoped that besides filling the existing knowledge gap, its findings will contribute to policy and practical interventions that will lead to efficiency of the universities involved.

The purpose of this study was to survey the level of readiness of three universities in Nigeria towards managing their digital records by assessing the e-records frameworks, infrastructures, and structural facilities that are available.

The population of the study was 30 staff of the Registry Department in three Nigerian universities. Questionnaires, oral interviews, and check list were used during data collection. Data were analyzed using frequency tables, simple percentages, and bar charts.

The paper found that universities in Nigeria are not ready to manage electronic records due to weak legislative and organizational frameworks. The paper recommends creation of awareness about e-records management, training of records personnel, adoption of hybrid records management and periodic auditing, provision of sustainable framework and infrastructure, among other things in Nigerian universities.

This study was carried out on only three out of more than 20 federal universities in Nigeria. Therefore, the sample size and geographical spread was inadequate for generalization of the findings.

The paper demonstrates that, without proper planning and adoption of various international standards for records management, e-records created using modern technologies are likely to be inaccessible in Nigerian universities in future and consequently, the ability to remain accountable to the citizens will be compromised.

The study exposed the simple tools and strategies for assessing a university's readiness before embarking on electronic records management in a digital age. The paper will serve as a catalyst to further discussion and research into e-records and archives management in Nigeria. It will lead to other records management initiatives in the library, archives and information management.

e-records have become an important tool through which a government is held accountable for good governance, transparency and delivery of services to citizens. Therefore, this study aims to assess availability of training and resources in a records management environment, as a way of determining e-records readiness at the Federal Ministry of Finance, Nigeria (FMFN).

Questionnaires and observation were used for data collection. Purposive and stratified sampling techniques were used. Quantitative data from the 250 usable questionnaires retrieved was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), while qualitative data was analyzed manually.

The study findings revealed that FMFN has a records management unit with other resources such as a movable and lockable file cabinet, files, file holders, registers and computers. There is low budget allocation for records management activities. Training for records managers is infrequent. However, an orientation program for new staff exists. Employees prefer the following mode of training: seminars and workshops, internships and consultant-run training. In terms of kinds of training need, study participants noted that they require training on computer applications, e-records management and change management role of record management.

This study is limited to employees of the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMF) in Abuja. As a result, the findings may not be generalized to other ministries in Nigeria.

It is hoped that the study would benefit the public sectors that are desirous to opt for e-records management and provide benchmarks for policymakers, particularly on how to maintain proper e-records readiness status through training and resources.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to be conducted at FMFN on e-records readiness, more specifically on resources and training.

This study aims to find out how the e-records management subject has been researched and tackled by researchers in the Eastern and Southern African Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives (ESARBICA).

This research paper applied a bibliometric survey, where a quantitative survey of the literature pertaining to the study of e-records management in the ESARBICA region, covering the period from 2000 to 2016, was conducted applying bibliometric methods. The survey aimed at providing descriptive data that cast a spotlight on the features and development of the e-records management base literature in the ESARBICA region.

The research data display a lamentable outlook in the contribution to the electronic records management body of knowledge from the ESARBICA region. Few research articles from professionals in the records and archives management are being published. These figures call for increased investments in electronic records management research by institutions in ESARBICA, as management of electronic content has become the centre of political and socio-economic development. Follow-up studies need to be done to counter limitations placed on this research paper. The findings show that there is under production of research publications in the ESARBICA region. The region only contributed 2 per cent of the total world output in the period under review and in the study of electronic records management from journals indexed by Scopus.

A bibliometric study places researchers at the mercy of analysing incomplete information due to limitations of resources. The variance in use of terminology (key words) by authors in published research articles may entail some being left out in an analysis of articles the same subject matter. As much as due diligence was placed on using Boolean search methods to counter such limitations they are unavoidable. An interpretation of bibliometric or citation analysis research is subjective as some analysts may label results incomplete or unreliable; hence, this paper finds itself in the same predicament. Inability to access the Thompson Reuters Web of Science database left the authors with Scopus as the only option, as Google Scholar was overlooked due to difficulties of having to rely on third-party software for analysing its indexed content that are mostly inaccurate and or ambiguous.

The findings of this study help uncover areas in e-records management, which have been researched over the years, and identify the prominent e-records management researchers in the ESARBICA region.

A number of bibliometric studies have been conducted; however, none has been conducted to establish e-records management research trends in the ESRABICA region.

This study examined the state of digital records management in Nigerian university libraries. It investigated the extent university libraries have captured/created, utilized, planned, organized and developed the skills of librarians, etc. for effective management of electronic records.

Descriptive survey design was adopted. The area of the study was Nigeria. The population of the study was 231 academic librarians and senior technical and administrative staff drawn from 12 federal university libraries. Data were collected and analyzed using questionnaire, checklist and version 20 of Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS). Information obtained through oral interviews was analyzed qualitatively and incorporated in the discussions. The analytical framework was the Readiness Assessment Guide developed by the International Records Management Trust/World Bank in 2004. The criterion of judgment was that any item or statement of the research instruments that obtains a mean value of 2.50+ was rated high, and low if less than 2.50.

The results revealed that ICT facilities were available in Nigerian federal university libraries but the manner and extent of utilization, planning, organizing, re-skilling the staff, budgetary provisions and adoption of international best practices, etc. for e-records was low. Adequate funding, steady power supply, full internet services and adoption of global best practices for e-records management were some of the recommendations.

This study has established that the status of ICT facilities and current digital records management in Nigerian university libraries have not been properly managed and therefore are likely to become vulnerable or inaccessible for future transactions.

The gap in the literature about the dart of empirical studies on the status of e-RM in Nigerian university libraries has been bridged.

This article aims to examine capacity building requirements for e‐records management in East and Southern Africa. It argues that e‐records management poses a number of problems and challenges that include but are not limited to: lack of skills and competencies, inadequate resources, lack of awareness among government authorities and records professionals, fragility of media and the need for specialized storage. The paper provides the current status of e‐records management in ESARBICA with emphasis on e‐records management capacity building. Last but not least, it proposes a number of strategies and solutions for the management of e‐records in ESARBICA.

This article is based on a literature review in general and desk research based on professional consultation and the experiences of the authors within the region.

Authors' findings indicate that there is a dearth of e‐records management skills and inadequate capacity in the ESARBICA member countries.

The study was limited to ESARBICA member countries, whereas it would have been more inclusive if all the countries of East and Southern Africa were involved. More research is therefore needed to cover the rest of the region.

Effective e‐records management has the potential to improve service delivery and enhance accountability and transparency in government but only if requisite skills needs are met.

This is the first attempt to explore capacity‐building issues in East and Southern Africa in the area of e‐records management. However, it provides a generic model that can be replicated in similar research elsewhere.

Electronic records management is new to most records officers and archivists in contemporary sub Saharan Africa. It transformed the traditional mode of recordkeeping and brought with it some constraints which records managers have to contend with if they are to remain relevant in the information society. This paper aims to examine the background of these problems as well as the strategies for e‐records management in Africa.

Relevant literature on archives development in Africa, electronic records, information technology, and records management were reviewed and the author gathered much insight on electronic records management in a digital environment. These were applied to fortify the author's arguments.

The study shows that the major problems of e‐records management in Africa are administrative and the technically induced challenge and the benefits of managing hybrid records in Africa can only be realized if the appropriate infrastructures, workable legislation and regulatory frameworks, adequate finance, and competent ICT personnel are available.

Introducing technological solutions to e‐records management in Africa without first addressing those necessary preconditions would increase the vulnerability of public records and jeopardize public services in the continent.

The study highlights the potential problems and provides guidelines which information professionals and stakeholders in developing countries should adopt for successful implementation of e‐records management.

The paper aims to identify the conditions and problems of electronic records management in the Turkish Red Crescent Society with respect to the institutional practices, international expectations, and through the records management capacity assessment system (RMCAS) with a related software program.

A survey method was used in this research; data were gathered through questionnaire and analysis. The analysis is carried out in order to identify the conditions and problems in institutional electronic records management through RMCAS

The analysis shows that there are issues and difficulties in defining metadata for accessing records, restrictions to access, evaluation and annihilation processes, and applying the methods among the units, along with the fact that founding an electronic base for communication and daily correspondence should be among the priorities.

The techniques used in this study are considered to serve as a guide to other institutions anywhere in the world encountering similar dilemma.

The paper provides practical information about analyzing the e‐records management capacity of any institutions, considering the local and international expectations.

The Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT), Government of Canada, through Shastri Indo‐Canadian Institute, encourages Indian scholars for Understanding Canada Faculty Research, Fellowships; the author visited Canada during March 2010 to study Canadian archival system, especially records management in archives in Ontario province; the driving rationale for the study was the realization that there existed very few or no archives and record management (ARM) programs in India. This study intends to report different types of ARM programs in Canada, with special reference to e‐records management, namely automation status, creation of virtual exhibits, preservation of digital images, metadata standard for e‐records, etc.

The author visited national, provincial and municipal archives and conducted unstructured interviews with archives staff/managers.

Records are considered as commodity and attempts to improve their management has necessitated a more integrated and controlled approach. In this study, it is noted that archivist and records managers have at present very little influence on policy implementation of archives and working under university librarian and less influence on decision making. All the university archives get a nominal amount from library budget. No separate budget for archives is available; modest budgets are allocated for rare book collection. The total archives concept in English Canada is based on the American system. The responsibility for collecting and copying its historical records fell to the government; with the so‐called convergence of technologies helping to fulfill new demands and rising expectations and to empower the end‐user. It was possible to establish very good relations with the archivists of these institutions and the author is keen to keep contact with them. It is expected that this study will serve as a building block to deeper examinations of broader issues such as the core competencies with respect to records management with special reference to e‐records management.

The prime objectives were to overview the current state of active and passive record keeping in the Government of Canada and identify the core competencies required to build effective record keeping infrastructures in the digital environment that has emerged in most government institutions. During a period of one month, the author was able to visit only selected archives in Toronto and Ottawa. The archives in other parts of Canada are not included in this study due to time limit.

The paper presents a study of the archival system in Canada and its role and contribution towards promoting a knowledge society in Canada.