TRACING THE MOTIVATION FOR USE OF EMAIL RECORDS IN ZIMBABWE’S CENTRAL GOVERNMENT

Abstract

There is increased use of electronic mail (email) as official records in many organizations. In fact, email is no longer used for communication purposes only, but it is also as an official record in business transactions. Zimbabwe’s central government is one such institution where reliance on use of email is on the increase. This article identifies and discusses factors that motivate Zimbabwe’s central government in using email as an official record in day-today business. The study was mixed method research and it made use of the convergent mixed methods research design. A total of 240 out of 660 informants from 12 out of 22 government ministries participated in the study where they responded to structured questionnaires. Ten interviewees also participated in the study. These included seven archivists from the National Archives of Zimbabwe, the director of the National Archives of Zimbabwe, an administration director from one government ministry and an Information Technology director from another government ministry. In addition to structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, data were also collected through personal observation and document reviews. Revelations from the study were that rise in use of email records was boosted by strides in electronic government and mobile government as well as issues of low cost, speed and ease of use of email, the later factors owing much to the innovation diffusion theory which greatly informed this study. The study recommended that increase in use of email records should match proper management of email records in order to make email an authentic, reliable and useful record of integrity.