AN ASSESSMENT OF E-RECORDS READINESS AT THE MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND HOME AFFAIRS, GABORONE, BOTSWANA

This study sought to assess electronic records (e-records) readiness at the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs (MLHA), Gaborone, Botswana, within the purview of the implementation of an e-records management solution – the National Archives and Records Management System (NARMS). The assessment was done using tenets derived from the existing International Records Management Trust (IRMT) E-records Readiness Tool. The assessment examined the national legal and policy framework, compliance with policies, standards, tools, procedures and responsibilities for records management, e-records management products and technologies, resource capacity and training for records management staff, internal awareness of records management programme and the level of management ownership on e-records management. The study largely adopted a qualitative approach, but used methodological triangulation of both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, with a case study research design. Data was collected through semi-structured questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and observations. Respondents comprised of records management staff, action officers (records users) and Information Technology (IT) Manager. The study findings revealed that the level of e-records readiness at the MLHA included: inadequate legal and regulatory framework; average adherence to records management procedures, tools and standards; low awareness among staff of the records management programme and, the national regulatory framework and on the NARMS pilot project; limited space for records management; slow progress in the implementation of NARMS and low capacity building as records management staff is rarely taken for training. The study also revealed that opportunities for increasing the depth of e-records readiness exist, such as: availability of financial resources for the NARMS pilot project; adequate Information Communication Technologies (ICT) infrastructure and high management commitment on the E-Records Management (NARMS pilot project). The study recommends: improvement of the national legal and policy framework by development of an e-records policy; development of a records management policy to provide an internal records management framework; regular training for records management staff, especially on e-records; regular internal records management awareness; and assigning senior management high-level responsibility for organisation-wide records and information management.