| dc.description.abstract | This research study was carried out at Kampala Archdiocesan Office of the Archives and sought to analyze the current Archival system used to manage Church historical and other archival records. Kampala Archdiocesan Office of the Archives was established to preserve and protect all the historical records of the Roman Catholic Church dating back to 1879, the year around which the missionaries came to Uganda. The objectives of the study were to; examine the types of archival collections, assess the archives administration practices, examine the issues and challenges encountered in the management of archival records, suggest and recommend an archival records system for the administration and use of archival records at the Office of the Archives, Kampala Archdiocese.
A qualitative research approach was used for the study and a non-random sampling method was undertaken. Interview and observation methods were used to collect data. The study found out that Kampala Archdiocesan archives are private in nature, and are largely manual. The various examples of Kampala Archdiocesan Archives included Pastoral letters, Diaries, Manuscripts, Correspondences and sacramental records such as Marriage and Baptism certificates. Sacramental archival records took the biggest proportion of the archival collections, while research works and pastoral letters took the least proportion of the archival collection. Metallic cabinets and open shelves were the main storage equipment in the Archival repository. The major issues and challenges encountered in the administration of archival records included dust, pests, poor preservation methods, inadequate trained archives staff, archival collections not being known to the public, and poor financing which largely contributed to deficiencies in the Archival system being used.
The study concluded that if Kampala Archdiocesan Office of the Archives would reformulate a comprehensive archival policy to give guidelines on the excellent archives administration procedures, recruit more skilled staff and train the existing staff, digitalize sensitive archival records to securely store them, and increase on funding to the Office of the Archives, there would be effective and efficient service delivery and administration of Church Archives. The study also proposed an automated archival records system that would help in retrieval and access of the Cathedral’s archival records, and also be used as a tool for re-appraisal of Archives. | en_US |
