Designing a records management system for the management of archival records at the Electricity Regulatory Authority

Abstract

The study aimed at designing a Records Management System for the Management of Archival Records at The Electricity Regulatory Authority. The system will help to manage information created manually and electronically and to integrate all informally centrally by using the system. This will go along with using different hardware and software components. Just like most other institutions of the world still uses manual system. Manual system is based on associations with paper-based records management. The manual system is associated with challenges such as difficulty in retrieval, wastage of time and consumption of office space since it deals with paper based records. The study was done under the following objectives; To find out the types of records stored at the Electricity Regulatory Authority; To identify the challenges with the current records management system used at the Electricity Regulatory Authority; To design an effective records management system for the Electricity Regulatory Authority and; To implement and give recommendations of the system. The study used two data collection techniques of interview and observation. The researchers collected data about Records Management System at Electricity Regulatory Authority from 18 respondents including Records officers, records users and IT staff. The study established that Electricity Regulatory Authority generates a number of records which range from administrative records, fiscal, Policy and financial records and they manage both paper and Electronic Records.. The study found out that Electricity Regulatory Authority faces a number of challenges such as difficulty in retrieval, less economy of space, low training on records management and less funding. The research concluded by designing a Records Management System for the Management of Archival Records at The Electricity Regulatory Authority and recommending it for use. The research team stated the design standards and the main functionalities of the system.