As in all spheres of institutional activity, voter education processes generate large quantities of
documentation, ranging from published information to minutes of meetings, from paper
correspondence to computer directories. It is essential, therefore, that an appropriate
documentary record of these processes be preserved. Such a record will:
- support the institutional memory of the organisation,
- enable the organisation to demonstrate accountability,
- assist in ensuring that best practices and lessons learned are passed on appropriately,
- ensure that future projects do not have to start from scratch,
- contribute to broader social memory.
The term 'appropriate documentary record' is used quite deliberately. Clearly no organisation
can afford to keep all the documentation generated by it, nor would it want to obscure the really
valuable material in an avalanche of ephemera. Information management is a huge field
embracing a range of corporate processes and technological elements.
The fundamental prerequisites for success, however, can be summarised as follows: First, adopt
a flexible, implementable, and cost-effective information management policy. Assign workers
explicit responsibilities in the management of information resources. Documentation should be
managed in terms of systems that facilitate classification, retrieva,l and preservation. This is
especially important in the sphere of electronic (computer) records. Adopt conventions around
issues like how to deal with e-mail, what constitutes an organisational record (as opposed to
personal record), shared directories, and classification and identification procedures. There
should be clear guidelines on where specific categories of documentation are to be kept and who
has access to them. There should be clarity on what needs to be kept only in the short-term and
what needs to be kept indefinitely. For instance, policy might determine that staff personal files
be kept for only three years after termination of service, but that two copies of each published
information report will be preserved.
It is imperative that documentation which has been identified for preservation be managed
systematically rather than in an ad hoc manner. Ideally, a institutional archive should be
established, to be managed either internally or through an agreement with another institution specializing in archiving.
Organisations are often governed in this regard by public archival legislation. The organisation
should, of course, be conversant with all legislation with implications for the management of
documentation. Archival legislation is just one category. There is also likely to be copyright
legislation, legal deposit legislation, tax laws, and other legislation governing financial
documentation, and freedom of information and protection of privacy.
