8 January 2012 Share on Archival processing of born digital material and digitisation of archival documents in GermanyAuthor: Robert KretzschmarAuthors Info & AffiliationsPublication: CommaVolume 2012, Number 2 Supplhttps://doi.org/10.3828/comma.2012.2.24 PREVIOUS ARTICLEArchival processing of born digital material and digitisation of archival documents in GermanyPrevious Get Access

ResumenAndalucía es una de las Comunidades Autónomas de España. A lo largo de la historia ha sido un territorio por el que han pasado y convivido diversas culturas y en el que se ha asentado gente de muy distintas procedencias; Andalucía ha sido y es un lugar de tránsito hacia América y hacia el Norte de África. Estas realidades implican la existencia de numerosos archivos, algunos surgidos en la Edad Media -aún hoy existentes- y otros que surgen en función de la gestión diaria de las entidades administrativas públicas y privadas. Andalucía posee un importante patrimonio documental y muestra la pujanza de los archivos mediante la existencia de un sistema archivístico que abarca todas las funciones que los archivos –de todo tipo- han de desarrollar. No obstante se ha de avanzar mucho para cambiar la mentalidad colectiva sobre los archivos, se ha de romper con la idea anticuada de que los archivos son sólo instituciones para custodiar los documentos del pasado, se ha de trabajar mucho, para que los archivos en Andalucía sean considerados los pilares básicos para la transparencia y la rendición de cuentas.

RésuméLes archives locales françaises sont organisées à plusieurs niveaux, correspondant au découpage administratif du territoire : régions, départements, communes, groupements intercommunaux. Toutefois, la hiérarchie des services d’archives dans les territoires ne correspond pas à l’importance de chacun d’entre eux. L’échelon le plus élevé, sur lequel s’appuie l’Etat pour l’application de sa politique archivistique locale, n’est pas la région mais le département.Evoquer les relations entre les archives locales et nationales à travers le prisme d’une ville comme celle de Marseille conduit à resituer le contexte particulier à la France.Nous avons choisi délibérément d’élargir le propos pour évoquer aussi les relations avec les autres institutions patrimoniales situées sur le territoire pour permettre au lecteur de mieux appréhender l’ensemble de la situation.

In the mid-1990s, Kao's management, corporate communications and archives team collaborated to formulate a corporate philosophy based on records and heritage. The management policy, called the ‘Kao Way,’ was published in 2004. It values ‘Yoki-monozukuri’ - a strong commitment to both products and brands of excellent value as well as consumer satisfaction, innovation, and integrity. The corporate communications team conducted workshops to train Kao employees in Japan and around the world to share the Kao Way among the Group's diverse membership. Corporate archives can thus provide the parent organization with a basis of common principles and philosophy, an invaluable resource especially given today's frequent corporate acquisitions and restructuring. Corporate archives can also provide answers to important questions about the nature and history of the company and how it has contributed to the wellbeing of customers and society at large over the years. Such heritage information can promote corporate pride and socially-responsible business conduct among employees.

A claim for damages brought by a group of elderly Africans against the British Government for alleged torture during the Kenyan ‘Mau Mau’ emergency in the 1950s and 1960s led to a demand by the High Court that all relevant documentation be produced. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) subsequently admitted the existence of withheld official documents from 37 former British dependencies sent to London at decolonisation. This article examines the FCO's account of the long concealment of the collections and questions of ownership, and documents at the UK National Archives; it outlines British policy towards the disposal of colonial government records prior to independence and notes guidelines about the type of material that should not be passed to successor governments. Documents from the ‘migrated archives’ already made public note an increased emphasis on document security, which clearly fed into policy development. The article includes a brief account of international attempts to outlaw the future r...

This article compares the findings and recommendations of Marcia Wright's 1962 UNESCO-funded study of the records and archives of Tanganyika with the present situation of the National Archives of Tanzania. It provides an overview of record-keeping in Tanganyika and the impetus for the establishment of a national archive, and describes significant developments such as the outcomes of the Records Management Improvement Programme of the late 1990s. Wright's recommendations are compared with the current situation and practices in areas such as the staffing and role of the National Archives, its positioning within government, its premises and regional headquarters, and the advice and guidance that it provides to government. In addition, the article considers the destruction of records, microfilming and digitisation, and the acquisition of non-government records of historical value. It concludes that the National Archives of Tanzania has fulfilled Wright's vision although the management of digital records follo...

The international standard on metadata for records ISO 23081 has been incorporated into the Dutch legislation on archives. This paper gives an introduction to initiatives pursued by central government to develop metadata schemas and implement application profiles. The National Archives of the Netherlands has developed an e-Depot (Trusted Digital Repository). To transfer electronic records to the e-Depot, the records and the metadata linked to them are wrapped as a Submission Information Package (SIP) using an XML-schema called MeDuSa. This XML-schema defines the structure of the SIP as well as a set of metadata elements, and has been developed simultaneously and in compliance with the metadata schema for the Dutch government. To make colleagues, archivists, records managers, information architects and others familiar with the most important concepts concerning metadata, a ‘Metadata Game’ has also been developed.

E-government initiatives are often part of broader reforms to improve public sector performance in delivering services to citizens and to businesses and in increasing efficiency. This paper discusses electronic records management (ERM) as one of the important building blocks for e-government. The author discusses some of the e-government initiatives in southern Africa and the ERM implications of these, drawing on studies carried out in a number of countries in the region. It is suggested that a range of different problems hinder the effective implementation of e-government; these include poor data systems and technological infrastructure, inadequate legal and regulatory frameworks, lack of skills, a lack of commitment by leaders to push the e-government agenda forward, and a failure to address the management of electronic records. Without an effort to incorporate ERM components into e-government projects, the capture of evidence emanating from e-transactions is in jeopardy and accountability and transpare...