Research Projects
Effective Electronic Records Management in 21st Century Government
Introduction
The "Effective Electronic Records Management in 21st Century Government" project was undertaken as part of the Chair in e-Government's research programme, which intends to produce research of relevance to government agencies and the IT industry.
This research project investigated how public servants across the New Zealand government handle emails of significant organisational value. The project also identified specifications for effective electronic record management across New Zealand central government, and made recommendations to government agencies on how to improve email management practices that support compliance with the Public Records Act.
Project downloads
Project Summary (59kb)
End-of-project seminar presentation Effective Electronic Records Management, 25 September 2008 (1,309Kb)
Presentation to GOVIS and EDRMS Interest Group, 24th Sept 2008 (6,681kb)
End of project report (401Kb)
Key issues and questions
Government agencies in New Zealand are becoming increasingly dependent on email as a formal communication and information transfer tool; however, New Zealand public offices also need to fulfil recordkeeping requirements specified in the New Zealand Public Records Act, 2005.
This research project explored gaps between the legal requirements and electronic records management practice within New Zealand central government. The research was focused on the following research questions:
- How do knowledge workers across the New Zealand government identify and manage email records of significant value and importance to their government agency?
- To what extent and in what ways are personal electronic records management practices of knowledge workers in line with legal requirements set out by the Public Records Act (2005)?
- What specifications for effective electronic records management across the New Zealand government can be identified? What recommendations to New Zealand government agencies can be made in this respect?
Key details
As part of this research, an online survey was distributed to government employees working for Central Government departments. Additionally two focus group meetings were held with government employees and records managers respectively.
The project has resulted in a seminar that presented the key findings and provided attendees with an opportunity to discuss the findings and ask questions. Further deliverables from this research will include:
- a written end of project report setting out the research findings, and
- an academic journal article.
This research project was initiated in October 2007 and the timeline was 12 months. The online survey was distributed in February 2008 and the two focus group meetings occurred in July and August 2008. The end of project seminar was conducted on 25th September 2008 and the end of project report will be available in the near future.
Contact details
If you would like to find out more about the project, please contact a member of the project team: Miriam.Lips@vuw.ac.nz, Anita.Rapson@vuw.ac.nz, or Tony.Hooper@vuw.ac.nz.
Updated: 16 November, 2009 © 2007 Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand