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This article, which is one of the products of an international collaborative research initiative called iTrust, aims to explore these questions and offer suggestions concerning how the issues they raise can be addressed.

The article describes the results of the first stage in a multi-stage research project leading to methods for developing retention and disposition specifications and formal schedules for open data and big data initiatives. A fictitious organization is used to describe the characteristics of open data and big data initiatives, the gap between current approaches to setting retention and disposition specifications and schedules and what is required and how that gap can be closed. The landscape described as a result of this stage in the research will be tested in case studies established in the second stage of the project.

The argument is made that the business processes supporting open data and big data initiatives could serve as the basis for developing enhanced standards and procedures that are relevant to the characteristics of these two kinds of initiatives. The point is also made, however, that addressing the retention and disposition issues requires knowledge and leadership, both of which are in short supply in many organizations. The characteristics, the issues and the approaches will be tested through case studies and consultations with those involved with managing and administering big data and open data initiatives.

There is very little, if any, current literature that addresses the impact of big data and open data on the development and application of retention schedules. The outcome of the research will benefit those who are seeking to establish processes leading to formally approved retention and disposition specifications, as well as an instrument – the approved retention and disposal schedule – designed to ensure the ongoing integrity of the records and data associated with big data and open data initiatives.

Human resource records are very important in the successful management of organisations. Despite their importance, they are ignored in records management studies. This study aims to bring to the limelight human resource records management issues that are overlooked despite the numerous studies on records management by examining the effectiveness of human resource records management strategies at a university in Ghana.

A descriptive survey was used in this study. A combination of census and simple random sampling was used to administer questionnaires to administrators who handle master or working personal files regularly. Data of 228 respondents was processed using SPSS and analysed in frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation.

This study revealed that while most vital documents were found on staff personal files, some documents like medical reports, passport pictures and birth certificates were somewhat unavailable. It was also found that the University had no human resource records policy in its corporate strategic thrust, which is a barrier to effective human resource records management, but the records creation strategies were effective. However, regarding the maintenance, and retention and disposition of human resource records, the strategies were ineffective. Overall, the findings fell short of the ISO 15489 framework for managing records.

This study seeks to bring to the fore human resource records management issues that seem to be overlooked despite the numerous studies on records management.

Social media posts have been an integral part of our society’s communication and serve purposes from the personal to the national, from the mundane to the silly to the momentous. This study aims to examine social media posts as records, discussing how social media technology serves, perhaps unexpectedly, to reinforce traditional archival understandings of issues such as provenance, custody, access, disposition and preservation.

This study follows a four-step methodology. First, this study analyzes literature for a matching definition of the social media record. In the second step, we appraise three social media postings previously curated and cited in news articles by journalists to determine their characteristics – Are these social media posts “records?” Third, this study evaluates the sample records against two dominant theoretical record models, the life cycle and the continuum and attempt to apply the model specifications to the data samples. Finally, this study proposes appropriate records management solutions to address governance issues from the study findings in the conclusion section.

This study shows that, even by the most traditional of definitions, social media posts are records. The paper also demonstrates that platform mediation transforms simple narrative documents into records whose provenance, custody and control are dictated by platform logics and governance, outside of the control of their creators. Through appraisal of a small sample of “important” social media posts, this study illustrates that, rather than obsolete, traditional records management concepts and approaches are necessary to ensuring the ongoing accessibility, usability and evidentiary character of social media posts in the broader “platformized” context.

This is exploratory, theoretical work. In future works, this study plans to expand and validate aspects of this study.

This paper tests existing theoretical frameworks, namely, the Records Life cycle and the Records Continuum for applicability to the social media record. The paper also offers a view of the potential for traditional archival and records management concepts in service of a just and inclusive recordkeeping, because such concepts allow us to demonstrate the centralized, elite-serving, bureaucratic structures which underpin social media records are obscured by the seemingly decentralized, participatory nature of social media.

Particular attention to the issue of information management will be required to meet the expected growth in IoT-devices and the data they generate. As government agencies start collecting and using such information, they must also deal with the issue of privacy, to comply with laws and regulations. The approach discussed here shows that record-keeping principles may form part of a solution to the issue of managing IoT-data for government agencies.

This study uses the generally accepted record-keeping principles as a basis for a high-level discussion on how IoT-data can be managed. This is followed by a presentation and discussion on how the Norwegian record-keeping standard, Noark, can be extended to highlight practical issues.

Record keeping has principles that are relevant to the management of IoT-data. Further an implementation of the chosen use-cases is possible based on an existing record keeping standard. Record keeping is one of many information science approaches that can manage IoT-data.

The main limitations are that the discussion cannot cover all types of IoT-devices, nor can all issues be captured with a limited choice of examples. The results should be seen within the context of the types of devices discussed and limited to the chosen use-cases. However, the level of abstraction used means the results may be applicable to similar scenarios.

The approach shows that record-keeping principles may be used as an approach to manage IoT-data. This discussion is useful when compared with other information science approaches, e.g. big-data or semantic Web approaches. The practicalities of a record-keeping approach are also discussed and relevant strengths and weaknesses are showed.

The purpose of this study is to assess whether the implementation of the electronic Court Records Management System (CRMS) at the Gaborone Magisterial District, Botswana, brought improvements in the delivery of justice as expected in the management of case file records.

Principally, a quantitative approach utilizing a research survey design, supplemented by a qualitative approach was used in this study.

The CRMS implementation led to improvements in case file management at the Gaborone Magisterial District; case files were successfully captured into the system; retrieval of case files became easier; and incidents of lost and misplaced case files went down significantly. Challenges included shortcomings related to the security of digital case files, digital records preservation and disposition, records appraisal, training, inadequate bandwidth and shortage of computers, as well as inadequate archives and records management standards and guidelines.

The findings of the study are limited to the case study and cannot be generalized to other organizations.

The findings should aid future implementation of court records management systems in the judiciary specifically and the public sector in general in Africa. Lessons learnt can enable the avoidance of pitfalls experienced in the implementation of CRMS by other courts.

This paper provides empirical evidence from an original study.

The paper takes a look at Management use of Records in Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria. The importance of records and records management programmes was given. Other issues that were investigated include: the components of records management in operation, maintenance and use of records, storage and security of records for effective use, records disposition schedule, and the strength and qualification of the records management personnel. The paper concludes that the management staff of Delta State University, Abraka, see records as indispensable tools in planning, decision making and implementation. Over the years, the authorities of the University have therefore created, maintained and used numerous records. Certain problems which hamper the effective use of records by management in the University were identified as: lack of clear‐cut records management standard, inadequate professional records management personnel, non‐availability of automatic security/protection system and erratic electric power supply. In order to eradicate or overcome these setbacks, the researcher has made some far‐reaching recommendations.

This study aims to investigate the management of records in Nigerian universities, in line with the Management Information Systems (MIS) programme put in place in federal universities by the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the National University Commission to ensure effective and efficient decision making, based on available data.

The study is based on the management of records in Nigerian universities.

The study reveals that records management programmes or policy on records are not available in Nigerian universities; hence the administration of records is without recourse to the principles of records management. There is no University Records Manual, no records retention and disposition schedule, personnel handling the records are not trained in records management, inadequate facilities for the preservation, storage, and retrieval of records, no filing manual, inadequate computers to manage the volume of records generated and the attitude of administrators towards records and records management constitute the problems of records management in Nigerian universities.

The article notes a number of recommendations made to improving records management practices in Nigerian universities. The university management and administrators and personnel handling the records should develop a positive attitude towards records and implement records management programmes in Nigerian universities. Records have “life”, and should be allowed to live through their life cycle process. Above all, the use of these records in solving problems and taking far‐reaching decision, will reduce crises in Nigerian universities.

State government archivists confront special problems in selecting and making available machine‐readable records with enduring research value. Today no more than half a dozen state archives have addressed the issue of electronic records and only two or three states have even rudimentary programs for selecting and preserving electronic records. The National Archives of the United States and Canada provide models for some aspects of program development, but archival programs in states and smaller government entities also face unique problems.

English Heritage is a non‐departmental public body and as such is covered by the provisions of the Public Records Act. In 1999 all file destructions were suspended and the entire approach to records appraisal was re‐examined. This paper explains the revised appraisal programme, based on the functional approach, introduced at English Heritage last year. It sets out the proposals that were made for implementation and future action; it outlines the resources that have been committed to the programme and other resources that will be needed in the future. It also examines the drivers for the revised programme and sets out the projected corporate benefits, which include accountability, affordability and openness, the early identification and documentation of records selected for permanent preservation and a significant reduction in non‐current record holdings.

This article is the result of a brief survey, conducted across the Internet by researchers from the Archives and Records Management Programme at the University of Wales at Aberystwyth. The authors discuss the need for records management training and education world‐wide, and the emergence of records management as a subset of information management, with an acknowledged impact on the systematic and efficient management of organisations. They show how the focus of records management has shifted over the recent past from the archival management of unwanted documents, to the management of electronic systems, giving records managers an equal standing with other professionals in the field of information management. Using a comparison between Malaysia, where much of the training is provided by visiting consultants, and the United Kingdom, where records management training is provided by the universities, the authors conclude that the needs of qualified and well‐informed professionals in this distinct field is dependent upon the training and education provided by courses in universities world‐wide. Their survey, however, reveals that there is no standard approach to the training provided by these institutions: some are likely to reflect their archival origins, others represent various streams of the broad context of information studies.