Management of electronic records at Entebbe Municipal Council

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish how electronic records are managed at Entebbe Municipal Council. The objectives were; to find out the kind of electronic records managed at Entebbe Municipal Council, to establish how electronic records are managed, establish the challenges faced in the management of electronic records and to suggest strategies for the management of electronic records at Entebbe Municipal Council. The study applied majorly qualitative methods of data collection and analysis. These included interview, observation and document review methods. The qualitative data was collected from 10 records management officers in various positions at the Municipal Council who included top record administrators, departmental record managers and formal employees. Both purposive and convenience sampling methods were used to select the categories of respondents. The study found out that some of electronic records which are handled at Entebbe municipal council include Microsoft word documents, e-mail messages, spreadsheets, images, Videos/ animation and SMS (short messaging services), the management of electronic records has no specific paradigm and this is likely to cause hard retrieval and records loss though there are some electronic records management measures such as security and storage. The electronic records management was found to face myriad challenges such as limited skills and technology changes, fragility of media, file deterioration and media obsolescence and this shows that serious improvements are required. The study concluded that Entebbe Municipal Council has no developed electronic records management systems and faces serious changes in management of electronic records. The study recommends that; the record management staff should include training sessions in their daily activities at the Municipal Council, Government should procure and distribute electronic equipment to Entebbe Municipal Council and Internet connectivity should be improved at the Municipal Council to ensure that electronic records are properly managed.