Framework for the Assessment of Virtual Archival Systems and Provision of Virtual Archival Services for Environmental Sustainability in South Africa

Abstract

Archival records/resources in electronic and those that only existed in physical formats have been made available to a larger audience and received much more usage as a result of digitization and remote accessibility. Virtual archives can help to reduce the environmental impact of traditional archival practices by storing and sharing information digitally rather than physically. The aim of this paper is to assess and develop a framework for the delivery of a virtual archive system tailored to the needs of both users and archival institutions for the promotion of environmental sustainability especially in developing countries. The qualitative research explained user expectations and perspectives on the provision of a newly established electronic archival system for the provision of virtual archive services at an archival institution in the City of Cape Town. This paper anchored on the Expectation Confirmation Theory proposed the Virtual archival systems expectations and satisfaction (VASES) framework to identify electronic archival system users’ expectations, measure perceived performance of electronic archival systems, and assess confirmation and satisfaction.