E-records Management in an E-government Setting in Botswana

Presents part of the findings of a study that was carried out to investigate the management of e-records in a government setting in Botswana. A two-stage research design strategy involving a case study of government ministries and a survey of the respondents within government ministries was used. The population of study consisted of: Director, Botswana National Archives and Records Services (BNARS), representative of the Director, Department of Information Technology (DIT), records sta f, IT specialists, and action officers. The findings showed that whereas e-records management in developed countries is receiving great attention, the same cannot be said of Botswana. E-records management in government in Botswana is at its infancy and fairly new. Botswana lacks an e-records management policy, which makes it difficult to identify, maintain and preserve e-records. Key recommendations include the need for Botswana government to consider among other things, benchmarking against best practices of developed countries with regard to the systematic management of e-records.