Page 20 - Professorial Lecture - Prof Nengomasha

the records and archives management profession was part of the Namibia
Information Workers Association (NIWA) renamed in 2021 to National Information
Association of Namibia (NIWAN) for many years until 2022 when the Association for
Records and Archives Management of Namibia (ARAMN) was formed. Studies by
Iita (2019) and Muchila (2020) support Katuu’s observation of weak associations in
Africa. The two studies reported challenges such as low membership and apathy
amongst the professionals. The findings show that members did not believe that
the Association was working in their interests such as lobbying for the welfare of
the profession, specifically the records and archives management specialisation.
These findings agree with Ipinge and Nengomasha’s (2018) findings which highlight
the marginalisation of the records and archives management profession, with
the records and archives management professionals expressing the views that
this was also partly due to marginalisation by NIWA which in their eyes favoured
the librarians. However, Ipinge and Nengomasha (2018) argued that NIWA was
open to all information workers and information institutions in Namibia. Records
managers and archivists are information workers, therefore there is room for them
in NIWAN. Keeping in mind the advice by Khumalo and Nkala (2015), it is in their
interest to be active in professional associations to make sure that their interests
are taken care of. Through an association they will be able to advocate for the
restructuring of records keeping as a records management cadre, better salaries
and ultimately achieve recognition of this very important profession. However,
there are already indications that ARAMN may suffer the same fate as NIWAN, as
professionals are exhibiting apathy judging by the 2022 low membership.

ICTs have brough about a rapidly changing world which has transformed
the records management profession. Records and archives management
professionals are called upon to research into the demands and challenges
and find solutions on how to operate in the digital environment. The newly
formed ARAMN started on the right note, participating in the 2022 Information
Conference whose theme was “Digital transformation and the management of
information and knowledge”. The Conferences which brought together records
and archives management practitioners and librarians mostly from the public
service of Namibia spoke to the common mission as well as acknowledging the
convergence which digital transformation has fostered amongst the information
science disciplines.

Prof. Cathrine Nengomasha | Professorial Lecture 20