An Assessment Of The Effectiveness Of Records Management And How It Improves The Quality Of Service Delivery In Private Institutions .A Case Study Of Justo Mwale University.

Abstract

This study was conducted to access the effectiveness of records and how it improves the quality of service delivery at Justo Mwale. The objectives to this study were to investigate the effectiveness of records management and how it improves the quality of service delivery, the second one was to find out the extent to which records management affects service delivery, the third one was to examine how records from Justo Mwale are managed, the fourth was to find out strategies, techniques, methods used in the management of records the fifth was to find out the challenges faced in ensuring that there is effective records management. and the last one was to ascertain if the institution has any records appraisal system. The total number of participants was 18 and the research instrument which was used to collect primary data was an interview guide and a questionnaire. The findings of the study show that effective records management improves service delivery. The major conclusions were that Justo Mwale university has not fully embraced the concept of records management. Management of records has not been acknowledged and recognized as the key resource in achieving goals and objectives this is because it does not have a well formulated and implemented records management appraisal system put in place, secondly there is an inappropriate decentralized records management system, thirdly the institution lacks finances, further, it puts little effort in digitizing its records ,furthermore it lacks appropriate finding aids, management support and storage equipment. The major recommendations were that the institution should prioritize the management of records and include record management practices in their annual budget, it should have records management officers who are well qualified, further it should have a centralized registry system. Furthermore, it should have policies, strategies, techniques and methods, additionally efforts to start to automate and digitized records should maximize. Lastly Justo Mwale should work with Zambian national archives and other documentations centers.