Page 17 - Professorial Lecture - Prof Nengomasha

Namibia by Mulokoshi (2023) investigated the role of records centres in the
digital environment. The findings show that the public service of records centres
still offered traditional records management services such as implementation of
retention schedules and retrieval. The few commercial records centres which
took part in the study offered cloud computing services mostly storage to some
public institutions. Mulokoshi concluded that records management policies and
guidelines were not fully integrated into ICT systems. These findings are a cause
for concern and would require the public service of Namibia to be vigilant in
the use of this technology to ensure the integrity, authenticity, reliability and
usability of the records. To effectively harness ICTs, the training of members of
staff of the public service of Namibia in records management and the use of
ICTs is required. This was one of the recommendations by Kazavanga (2022) to
address the low and in some cases nonuse of the electronic document and
records management system of the public service. The sharing of knowledge
using various ICT platforms could enhance the adoption of the use of EDRMS.
Records management in a digital environment largely rests with the creators of
the records, who have a large part to play in ensuring that their records are
captured in the EDRMS.
Archivists can harness ICTs in innovative ways to reach their research communities
and the public. Technological changes have advanced many of the archival
functions which focus on access and reference services, and these include
archival description and the production of finding aids, and the liaison between
the archives and its clients through email and virtual reference revolutionised
by websites (Oeistreicher, 2020). Archivists therefore must gain sufficient
understanding of the digital technologies, from Web 2.0, the use of the Web to
allow and promote social networking through approaches such as wikis, blogs,
etc. to Web 3.0 moving towards eliminating gatekeepers, alluding to different
roles for archivists as technology evolves. Studies (Ikanda, 2021; Magadza, 2022)
show that the National Archives had not adequately harnessed ICTs in its service
delivery. Ikanda (2021) findings were that the NAN had a website which was non-
interactive. The use of a website was confirmed by a study by Magadza (2022)
on outreach services, however, Magadza’s observation was that the information
was outdated. Both Magadza and Ikanda found use of Facebook, Twitter and
Youtube, however Magadza reported that the Facebook page had very few
updates. According to Magadza, although the NAN website had a feedback
box, it was not actively used confirming the advice by Manson (2014) that for
Web 2.0 technologies to be effective, archivists should proactively develop
a social media strategy rather than passively wait for unsolicited customer
feedback. Magadza and Ikanda both concluded that was not much use of
social media by the NAN and email was used most.

Transformation of Records & Archives Management in the Public Service of Namibia 17