The role of national archival institutions in the ESARBICA region in fostering collaboration and building Partnerships in the information society

Abstract

This article explores the role that national archival institutions in the East and Southern Africa Regional of Branch of the International Council on Archives (ESARBICA) region play in fostering collaboration and building partnerships in the information society. Secondly, it aims at stimulating debate around partnerships and their application in the archival sector. Partnerships have been traditionally confined to the mainstream public and private sectors, and their expansion into the heritage sector including arts, museums, libraries and archives seems to be a recent development (Wilson & Boyle 2004). Although, the International Council on Archives (to which ESARBICA is affiliated) is committed to the advancement of archives through international collaboration, there has been very limited discussion on partnerships in the archival sector in general, and particularly in Africa. Partnerships are fundamental to service delivery in the information society and safeguarding society's collective memory.