An effective records management programme is a major element of the governance of any organisation. However, despite this crucial role played by records management, there is a consensus amongst researchers that many organisations, including government departments, pay little attention to the management of records. In South Africa, government departments are under legislative obligations to adopt a systematic and organised approach to the management of records. For example, the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa Act (Act No. 43 of 1996) requires government departments to develop, implement and maintain proper records management systems. The purpose of this study was to explore records management trends in the Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) to establish if the Department was managing records according to legislative requirements. Data was collected through online questionnaires, physical observation and interviews with selected DPLG employees and analysed through an open source software. The key findings of the study revealed that an enormous benefit for the implementation of a records management programme is the commitment and support of top management. The study recommended that records management should be included in the performance contracts of all employees in the DPLG. The study concluded that a records management programme will only function effectively if it is developed as part of the strategic objective of the organisation. / Information Science / M.A. (Information Sxcience)

Archival legislation is a crucial tool for the public sector to ensure the management, preservation and access of a country’s national documentary heritage. In Mozambique, archival legislation has been enacted which sets the scene for records appraisal and disposition, as well as classification schemes and retention schedules for administrative records of governmental bodies falling under the auspices of the Act. As a result, public agencies in Mozambique are required by the archival legislation to adopt a systematic and organized approach to the management of their records from creation to disposal. Despite this, the records management processes of many public entities in Mozambique have remained ineffective and inefficient. This study utilized the record life cycle concept as a framework to assess the state of implementation of the National Archives and Records Management Act at Eduardo Mondlane University (EMU) in Mozambique. The study applied a quantitative research approach with triangulation of data collection tools, namely, questionnaire and document analysis. The study revealed that EMU has only established one central records appraisal and disposal committee for its directorate units, which has not coped with the records management demands from other academic units such as faculties, schools and research centers. In most of the academic units the records management staff were not involved in the training, records appraisal and disposal processes, as well as in the destruction and/or transfer of records to the Mozambique Historical Archives (MHA), as required by legislation. The study concludes that most EMU units do not comply with archival legislation resulting in few provisions of the Act being implemented. The study therefore recommends that the records management function at EMU should put in place the basic procedures of control for records management systems with the leadership taking a proative role in the strategic planning, budgeting and monitoring. A further empirical study on the assessment of the state of implementation of the National Archives and Records Management Act throughout the entire public sector in Mozambique is recommended. / Information Science / M. Inf. (Archival Science)

Records management plays a significant role in ensuring accountability, transparency and good governance. Chapter nine institutions, on the other hand, are democratic institutions responsible for the promotion of accountability, transparency and good governance in the public sector through various forms such as investigation, reporting and recommendations. Although the regulatory role of records management in the public sector is the responsibility of the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa (NARSSA), it seems that this responsibility is cumbersome for the organisation as several scholars concur that the public sector is characterised by poor records management. As a result, NARSSA is unable to support governmental bodies in managing records properly. Given the position of chapter nine institutions in government and their mandate as set out by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, these institutions are able to hold the state accountable for their actions, unlike NARSSA. This study adopted the World Bank’s evolution of good governance as the conceptual framework to investigate the contribution of selected chapter nine institutions, specifically the Auditor-General South Africa (AGSA) and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) towards records management in the public sector in South Africa. Qualitative data was collected through document analysis and interviews with purposively selected participants from the AGSA and the SAHRC. At the AGSA, participants were records management professionals and auditors, whereas at the SAHRC only staff members responsible for the implementation of access to information legislation were interviewed. Although the study established that records management is a key enabler to the process of access to information and the auditing process, the relationship was not fully explored by the SAHRC, which has little or no interaction with the NARSSA. However, the AGSA has taken the lead in this regard as it has managed to develop a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with NARSSA. Organised records enable the AGSA to audit the public sector and to facilitate access to records in terms of freedom of information legislation. The study concludes that there is a need for chapter nine institutions to work hand in hand with NARSSA for the purpose of fostering proper record keeping in the public sector. It is recommended that this study be extended to other chapter nine institutions such as the Public Protector. / Information Science / M. Inf. (Archival Studies)

Public programming initiatives are considered as an integral part of archival operations because they support greater use of archival records. This study investigated public programming practises in the ESARBICA region. The findings of the study were determined after applying methodological triangulation, within a quantitative research context. This included the use of self-administered questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and the analysis of documents and websites. Participants in this study were ESARBICA board members, Directors of the National Archives and archivists from the ESARBICA region. Nine (69.2%) national directors representing different member states completed the questionnaire and eight archivists from the same region were interviewed. Furthermore, three ESARBICA board members were also interviwed. Legislation and country reports from ESARBICA member states were reviewed, together with websites of institutions within the ESARBICA region that offered archival education and training. Findings of the study indicated that public programming initiatives were not a priority. Reasons for this included lack of public programming policies, budgetary constraints, shortage of staff and lack of transport. Furthermore, the national archives were reluctant to rope in technology to promote their archives. Collaboration efforts with regard to promoting archives were shallow. Moreover, the investigation of user needs was restricted to existing users of the archives. In addition to all this, the archivists felt that they needed to improve their public programming skills. The study therefore suggests that the national archives of ESARBICA should focus on: legislation, public programming policies, advocacy, users, partnerships and skills. Taking these factors into consideration, an inclusive and integrated public programming framework was developed and proposed as a possible measure for improving public programming efforts in the ESARBICA region. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

[ES] El Archivo Nacional de Chile tiene la obligación legal de reunir, organizar y preservar el patrimonio documental público de Chile, que incluye aquellos documentos producidos en territorio chileno desde la época colonial hasta nuestros días, con el fin de dar acceso y facilitar a la ciudadanía la información administrativa, jurídica e histórica que contienen. Es entonces cuando la garantía del derecho al acceso de la información pública y el financiamiento de esta necesidad, se enfrentan. Idealmente, se podría esperar que la documentación resguardada se encontrara en acceso a través de reproducciones digitales, sin embargo, esto requiere un alto costo de inversión que es inabordable para un organismo público. Por lo tanto, la entrega de acceso físico sigue siendo la principal oferta desde la institución hacia la ciudadanía. De este modo, la necesidad de conocer al detalle el estado de conservación en el cual se encuentran los documentos, permitiría proyectar la factibilidad de digitalización, como también la necesidad de estabilización física que requieran previo a esto o como fin en sí mismo. La estabilización física se resuelve por medio de un conjunto de tratamientos de restauración, esto entrega certezas de pervivencia de los documentos al prolongar su vida útil. Esta tesis usó como caso de estudio el fondo documental de la Real Audiencia del Archivo Nacional de Chile y sus 3.272 unidades documentales, siendo parte de los fondos documentales más antiguos que se resguardan. Se centró en encontrar una solución metodológica que integrara un diagnóstico del estado de conservación, para construir una base de datos eficiente que contemplaba toda la información y características físicas de cada unidad documental, junto a la aplicación de un proceso innovador como el Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) como estrategia de priorización de los tratamientos de restauración. Dada la versatilidad del método AHP se pudo aplicar en distintos escenarios y mostró resultados que podrían facilitar el trabajo de planificación de la tareas de intervención técnica, transformándose en un aporte concreto para la preservación de los documentos y la posibilidad de mantenerlos accesibles en el futuro. / [CAT] L'Arxiu Nacional de Xile té l'obligació legal de reunir, organitzar i preservar el patrimoni documental públic de Xile, que inclou aquells documents produïts en territori xilé des de l'època colonial fins als nostres dies, amb la finalitat de donar accés i facilitar a la ciutadania la informació administrativa, jurídica i històrica que contenen. És llavors quan la garantia del dret a l'accés de la informació pública i el finançament d'aquesta necessitat, s'enfronten. Idealment, es podria esperar que la documentació resguardada es trobara en accés a través de reproduccions digitals, tanmateix, això requereix un alt cost d'inversió que és inabordable per a un organisme públic. Per tant, el lliurament d'accés físic continua sent la principal oferta des de la institució cap a la ciutadania. D'aquesta manera, la necessitat de conéixer al detall l'estat de conservació en el qual es troben els documents, permetria projectar la factibilitat de digitalització, com també la necessitat d'estabilització física que requerisquen previ a això o com a fi en si mateix. L'estabilització física es resol per mitjà d'un conjunt de tractaments de restauració, això entrega certeses de pervivència dels documents en prolongar la seua vida útil. Aquesta tesi va usar com a cas d'estudi el fons documental de la Real Audiència de l'Arxiu Nacional de Xile i les seues 3.272 unitats documentals, sent part dels fons documentals més antics que es resguarden. La investigació es va centrar en trobar una solució metodològica que integrara un diagnòstic de l'estat de conservació per a construir una base de dades eficient que contemplava tota la informació i característiques físiques de cada unitat documental, al costat de l'aplicació d'un procés innovador com el Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) com a estratègia de priorització dels tractaments de restauració. Donada la versatilitat del mètode AHP es va poder aplicar en diferents escenaris i va mostrar resultats que podrien facilitar el treball de planificació de les tasques d'intervenció tècnica, transformant-se en una aportació concreta per a la preservació dels documents i la possibilitat de mantindre'ls accessibles en el futur. / [EN] The National Archive of Chile has the legal obligation to collect, organize and preserve Chile's public documentary heritage, which includes all documents produced in Chilean territory from colonial times to the present day. In order to give access to the administrative, legal and historical information they contain. It is then when the guarantee of the right to access to public information and the financing of this need come up against each other. It could be expected that the documentation would be accessible through digital reproductions, however, this requires a high investment cost that is impossible for a public organism. Therefore, providing access to original documents continues to be the main offer from the institution to citizens. In this way, knowing the conservation status of the documents would help to project the feasibility of digitization, as well as the treatment before digitization or the treatment as an end in itself. The restoration treatments provide some certainties in order to prolong the useful life of the documents. This investigation has studied the documentary collection of the Royal Audience of the National Archive of Chile and its 3,272 documentary units, part of the oldest documentary collections that are safeguarded. It focused on finding a methodological solution that would integrate a diagnosis of the state of conservation to build an efficient database that included all the information and physical characteristics of each documentary unit and the application of an innovative process such as the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) as a strategy for prioritizing restoration treatments. Thanks to the versatility of the AHP method, it could be applied in many different ways and showed results that could facilitate the planning of interventions. It becoming concrete contribution to the documents and the possibility of keeping them accessible in the future. It becomes a concrete contribution to the conservation of documents and the possibility of keeping them accessible in the future. / Ríos Martínez, N. (2022). Desarrollo de una metodología para el diagnóstico del estado de conservación y priorización de las intervenciones de restauración basada en el método del proceso analítico jerárquico (Analytic Hierarchy Process, AHP). Caso de estudio: fondo documental de la Real Audiencia, Archivo Nacional de Chile [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/186236 / TESIS

An audit of financial statements relies heavily on authentic records to yield informed audit opinions. Without proper records of transactions, the objective of auditing financial statements becomes difficult. In the digital environment, determining the authenticity of digital documents for purposes of auditing is even more problematic because of a lack of criteria used by auditors for the declaration of such authenticity. This study sought to develop a framework for the authentication of records in a government accounting system in Botswana with a view to supporting the audit process in the public sector. This qualitative study framed within the interpretivism epistemological research paradigm, used archival diplomatics as a theoretical lens. Data were collected through system analysis, analysis of documents such as legislation, as well as interviews with auditors, ICT professionals and records management practitioners purposively selected from the Botswana National Archives and Records Services, Office of the Auditor General, Department of Information Technology, Accountant-General’s Department, Department of Internal Audit and Department of Corporate Services of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. The study established that the legislative framework for managing digital records does exist in Botswana. A lack of skills by records management professionals and auditors to authenticate digital records was also noted. The absence of some criteria to authenticate digital records means that auditors use their own discretion with regard to their authenticity. In addition, as a business system, the Government Accounting and Budgeting System (GABS) does produce and store digital records, but their authenticity and availability over time are not guaranteed. This weakness can be addressed by integrating GABS with an Enterprise Content Management (ECM). Currently, records authenticity in GABS is ensured through reliance on social and technical indicators (information technology and system application controls). The study suggests a framework for the authentication of digital accounting records in a government accounting system with the hope that its implementation would support the audit process. It is concluded that because of the failure to establish guidelines and checklists for auditors to authenticate digital records, there will be continued reliance on information technology and system application controls. Therefore, it is recommended that the Auditor General should develop a checklist for authentication. A further study of the integration of Government Accounting and Budgeting System with an Enterprise Content Management to properly manage digital records produced and stored in the system is recommended. / Information Science / D. Phil. (Information Science)

This dissertation thesis is focused on music performance within the bounds of Order of the Cross with Red Star in the 18th century. The history of the Knight's Order rises from the first half of the 13th century and concerns the only original Czech church order. In the 18th century Knights of the Cross belonged to the most significant patrons of Art in Czech lands. Church and monastery of St. František in Prague, the center of the Order, became the most influential culture center. The charity work of the Order of that time influenced the creation of the extraordinary institution - the Order's menza that had the significant importance for operating of organ lofts of St. František Church because it provided the sufficient amount of singers and musicians. The research is exclusively based on non-music materials deposited in the Cross paper fond (Nr.195) consigned in the 1st department of the National Archives in Prague. According the information of the inventory department, the fond contains altogether 2315 cartons of paper material and 3306 books. Until now, the researchers have been interested in these sources only marginally which was caused mostly by its disorderliness and most important discoveries have been realized mostly just by lucky coincidences. The main part of this work is devoted to St....