Records management keeps pace with technology

By Standard Reporter

Organisations churn out tonnes of records every day, with piles of files to keep track of every bit of information. For most of them, records management, including dissemination is a manual process. This is not only cumbersome, but also prone to errors.

But the advent of digital technology is changing how information is stored and managed, giving companies flexibility from creation of records to disposal of unnecessary ones. Information management experts say while digital technology does not entirely replace the manual system, it brings huge savings in terms of time, space and manpower.

According to Miriam Mwonge, a lecturer in the Department of Library and Information Science at Inoorero University, more organisations are realising the value of efficient records and archives management by adopting new technologies and hiring qualified people.

“Records management covers information that is current and semi-current while archives management covers that which is non-current but valuable,” says Mwonge.

 “Records are vital in sound and informed decision making, efficient service delivery, planning, preservation of corporate memory and culture.”  While digital technology makes it possible to store and concurrently avail information resources among many users, it also provides unlimited capacity and back up for records in case of a disaster. It helps organisations reduce operational costs for managing records on staff, equipment and office space and eases tracking of documents in use and transactions.

Like every technology, however, digital information systems come with risks, such as system breakdown, information leakage, corruption or manipulation of files, computer viruses and denial of service.

 “The organisations need to install firewall in its Local Area Network (LAN) to protect the internal systems from external attacks,” said Mwonge.

 “Although there are technologies such as digital signatures to authenticate records, there is need for other technologies to cover up for the gaps identified with the existing ones.”

In the digital world, the volatility of records raises integrity issues. Digital records, for instance, can be altered at any level (active and non-active), hence the need to guard them from unauthorised persons and ensuring proper access control. She said Inoorero University has reviewed its syllabus to incorporate new technologies that can be integrated into records and archives management.

“We have already integrated electronic document and records management, fibre-optic technology, mobile technologies, cloud computing and as such into our courses,” she said. As organisations seek to keep records, they need to understand how to do it, who to do it, when to do it and why.

“Digitisation is not scanning paper records and converting them to Portable Document Format (PDF),” she said. “You need a strategy around it and of course well-trained personnel to manage them after.”

Glance

Though there are technologies such as digital signatures to authenticate records, there is need for other technologies to cover up for the gaps identified with the existing ones,”

 Miriam Mwonge, lecturer, IU.