Public archives in east and southern Africa are functioning in a competitive information environment. Institutions such as libraries and museums also offer information, but fewer people utilise public archives. More effort is required to make archives a part of the daily lives of citizens in east and southern Africa. This study sought to explore whether or not public archives should collaborate with other information providers in their mission to increase social interaction with the archives. Directors of National Archives, archivists and members of the East and Southern Africa Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives (ESARBICA) Board were invited to shed light on their experiences and views regarding collaboration in outreach initiatives. The directors completed a questionnaire, while the archivists and board members participated in face-to-face interviews. Country reports from the different ESARBICA member states were also reviewed. The findings indicate that collaboration in outreach initiatives took place to a certain extent, but libraries and museums were rarely part of this. This paper recommends that public archives play a stronger role in collaborative efforts to improve their visibility and widen their outreach to the public in east and southern Africa. The findings provide an overview on collaborative outreach projects from the perspective of selected archivists from this region, and therefore cannot be generalised to represent the common views of this entire region.
AbankwahA (2008) The management of audio visual materials in the member states of ESARBICA. DPhil thesis, University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa.
2.
BabbieE (2011) The Basics of Social Research. 6th ed. Wadsworth: Cengage.
3.
BarrettCCannonBO’HareL (2009) The application of library outreach strategies in archival settings. Dalhousie Journal of Interdisciplinary Management4 (Spring) Athttp://hdl.handle.net/10222/13876 (accessed March 15 2013).
4.
BlaisGEnnsD (1991) From paper archives to people archives: public programming in the management of archives. Archivaria31 (Winter 1990-91): 101–113.
5.
BakerK (2015) Adapting the model for information literacy and cultural heritage in Cape Town: investigating user attitudes and perceptions in libraries, museums and archives. MPhil thesis, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
CeeneyN (2008) The role of a 21st century national archive - the relevance of the Jenkinsonian tradition, and a redefinition for the information society. Journal of the Society of Archives29(1): 57–71.
8.
CookT (1991) Viewing the world upside down: reflections on the theoretical underpinnings of archival public programming. Archivaria31 (Winter): 123–134.
9.
CreswellJ (2009) Research Design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. Los Angeles: Sage.
10.
DearstyneBW (1987) What is the use of the archives? A challenge for the profession. American Archivist50(1): 76–87.
11.
DuffWCarterJCherryJMMacNeilHHowarthLC (2013) From coexistence to convergence: studying partnerships and collaboration among libraries, archives and museums. Information Research18 (3) paper 585. Athttp://:InformationR.net/ir/18-3/paper585.html (accessed 15 March 2016 ).
12.
EricsonTL (1991) Preoccupied with our own gardens: outreach and archivists. Archivaria31(Winter): 114–122.
13.
ESARBICA (2013) Strategic Plan 2013-2015. Nairobi: Kenya.
14.
FlynnSJ (2001) The records continuum model in context and its implications for archival practise. Journal of the Society of Archivists22(1): 79–93.
15.
GarabaF (2010) An investigation into the management of the records and archives of former liberation movements in east and southern Africa held by national and private archival institutions. DPhil thesis, University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.
16.
GarabaF (2015) Dodos in the archives: rebranding the archival profession to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century within ESARBICA. Archives and Records: The Journal of the Archives and Records Association36 (2):216–225.
17.
GrabowskiJ (1992) Keepers, users, and funders: building an awareness of archival value. American Archivist55(Summer): 464–472.
18.
HedegaardR (2004) The benefits of archives, libraries and museums working together: a Danish case of shared databases. New Library World105 (7/8): 290–296.
19.
HedlinE (2011) What the case studies tell us. In Many Happy Returns: Advocacy and the development of archives, edited by HackmanL.Chicago: SAA: 297–322.
20.
HedstromMKingJL (2003) On the LAM: Library, archives and museum collections in the creation and maintenance of knowledge communities. Paris: OECD. At www.oecd.org/edu/innovation-education/32126054.pdf (accessed 15 March 2016).
21.
HindalSWyllerEH (2004) The Norwegian Archive, Library and Museum Authority - our role in a society based on knowledge and culture. Library Review53 (4):207–212.
JimersonRC (1989) Redefining archival identity: meeting user needs in the information society. American Archivist52 (Summer): 332–340.
26.
KamatulaG (2011) Marketing and public programming in records and archives at the Tanzanian Records and Archives Management Department. Journal of the South African Society of Archivists44 (2011): 74–89.
27.
KamatulaGMnkeni-SaurombeNMosweuO (2013) The role of archives in the promotion of documentary national heritage in Tanzania, South Africa and Botswana. ESARBICA Journal32: 109–127.
28.
KlimaszewskiC (2015) Lumping (and splitting) LAMs: The story of grouping libraries, archives and museums. Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science39 (3-4):350–367.
29.
LowryJ (2015) Collaboration not convergence: the need for independent archival institutions. Paper presented at the XXIII ESARBICA Biennial Conference, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, 8-12 June 2015.
30.
MakoeME (2014) Research paradigms and theoretical frameworks. College of Graduate Studies, UNISA Research Workshop, UNISA, Muckleneuk Campus Pretoria 19-20 February 2014.
31.
MarcumD (2014) Archives, libraries, museums: coming back together?Information and Culture49(1): 74–89.
32.
McKemmishS (2001) Placing records continuum theory and practise. Archival Science (1): 333–359.
33.
MnjamaN (2005) Archival landscape in east and southern Africa. Library Management26(8/9): 457–470.
MurambiwaINgulubeP (2011) Measuring access to public archives and Developing an access index: experiences of the National Archives of Zimbabwe. ESARBICA Journal30: 83–101.
36.
NesmithT (2010) Archivists and public affairs: towards a new archival public programming. In Better off Forgetting? Essays on archives, public policy and collective memory. Edited by AveryCHolmundMToronto: University of Toronto: 169–193.
37.
NeumanWL (2014) Social Research Methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. 7th ed. Harlow: Pearson.
38.
NgoepeMNgulubeP (2011) Assessing the extent to which the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa has fulfilled its mandate of taking the archives to the people. Innovation: Journal of Appropriate Librarianship and Information Work in Southern Africa42: 3–22.
39.
NgulubeP (1999) The marketing of archival services and products in east and southern Africa: opportunities for survival in the next millennium. ESARBICA Journal18: 19- 25.
40.
NgulubeP (2002) Future of the past: access to public archives in southern Africa and challenges to historical research. Historia47(2): 563–582.
41.
NgulubePSibandaR (2006) The role of national archival institutions in the ESARBICA region in fostering collaboration and building partnerships in the information society. ESARBICA Journal25: 21–35.
42.
NgulubePTaforVF (2006) The management of public records and archives in the member countries of ESARBICA. Journal of the Society of Archivists27(1): 57–83.
43.
NormanM (2013) Collaborative libraries: can we do and measure things differently?Public Library Quarterly32(3): 223–239.
44.
NoviaJ (2012) Library, archival and museum collaboration: driving forces and recent trends. Endnotes: The Journal of the New Members Round Table3(1):1–10.
45.
ReidG (2010) The challenge of making archives relevant to local authorities. Records Management Journal20(2): 226–243.
46.
RobinsonH (2012) Remembering things differently: museums, libraries and archives as memory institution and the implications for convergence. Museum Management and Curatorship27(4): 413–429.
47.
RoperMMillarL (1999) Managing Public Sector Records: A study programme. London: International Records Management Trust.
48.
SaurombeNNgulubeP (2014) Archivists’ skills and knowledge of public programming: a perspective of the national archives of ESARBICA. Paper presented at the South African Society of Archivists Annual Conference, Mpumalanga Provincial Archives, Nelspruit, South Africa, 9-11 July 2014.
49.
SulejZ (2014) Access to archives in South Africa in the first 20 years of democracy: Is there transformation or deformation?ESARBICA Journal33: 13–35.
WeirC (1991) Selling yourself: outreach and promotion in the Nottinghamshire Archives Office. Journal of the Society of Archivists12(1): 15–26.
56.
WilsonIE (2005) The gift of one generation to another: the real thing or the Pepsi Generation. In Archives, Documentation and Institutions of Social Memory, edited by BlouinTRosenbergWGMichigan: University of Michigan: 333–342.
57.
YarrowAClubbBDraperJ (2008) Public archives, libraries and museums: trends in collaboration and cooperation. IFLA Professional Reports No. 108. Atwww.ifla.org/publications/ifla-professional-reports-108 (accessed 20 February 2014).
