E-record readiness – Can we build a contextual and conceptual framework for labour organisations in Botswana?

Literature shows that by and large, most labour organisations’activities are largely knowledge-based as well as information intensiveand that the proliferation of e-records has brought about manychallenges to labour organizations, many of which are unaware of thenumerous issues pertaining to the creation, storage and retrieval anddissemination of e-records. Currently there are various assessmenttools that have been put in place to assess the depth of e-readinessall over the world. However, most of these tools have been criticizedfor “varying definitions for e-readiness and different methods formeasurement while others have been criticized for lacking the“information access” component but “subsumed under informationand communication technology (ICT)”. In particular, most of thesetools are said to be general in nature and that they are highlyquantitative in measurement, focus on government agencies and donot emphasize the question of e-record readiness in the civil societyor non-governmental organizations. The question, therefore, thatneeds to be addressed is whether the existing e-records readinessframework is appropriate for assessing e-records readiness in labourorganizations and to what extent such a framework can be used asbasis for understanding the management of electronic records insuch organizations. This article therefore interrogates the usefulnessof e-records readiness assessment tools in labour organizations inBotswana. Based on a literature review, the article seeks to reviewthe content, context and implementation of e-records readiness toolsin labour organisations in Botswana. The article concludes by callingfor the development of a framework that “institutionalises knowledgeabout the e-records readiness process-es” in labour organizations forthem to integrate fully in the envisaged e-environment in Botswana