Developing an electronic filing, storage and retrieval system for Makland Institute of Business Management

Abstract

Background: The existing records management system at Makland Institute of Business Management has outlived the enormous volume of records generated on a daily basis in a small records office. This has resulted into delays in retrieval and has greatly affected the filing, storage and retrieval of records. Objectives: The objectives of the study were; To find out the types of records created, received and stored, To establish how records filing, storage and retrieval is conducted, To assess the challenges affecting the procedures of filing, storage and retrieval system, To propose suggestions on how to improve the procedures of filing, storage and retrieval, To identify the requirements needed to develop an electronic filing, storage and retrieval system, and to develop an electronic filing, storage and retrieval systems in the records department of Makland Institute of Business Management. Methodology: The study was conducted using qualitative research design and the data collection methods included; interviewing, observation, document review and Focus Group Discussion and purposive sampling was used. Findings: The study revealed that MIBM has different types of records such as administrative, accounting, correspondences, personnel and miscellaneous records, it uses manual system for filing records, physical storage equipment to store records and it uses physical sorting and scanning to retrieve its records. It faces a lot of challenges while retrieving the records these challenges include time consuming, limited access and loss of information. Conclusion: The study concluded that the existing filing, storage and retrieval system at MIBM are manual which are slow and ineffective. The study also concluded that there is a need to develop a filing, storage and retrieval system in the organization so that work becomes easy to run since every activity takes time in order to be accomplished. This affects decision making, productivity and makes work inefficient thus less enjoyable. Recommendations: The study recommended the following; implementation of the proposed system by the researchers, digitization of records, security of records, training and motivation of staff, supervision of workers and developing a backup and disaster plan.