In August 2019, I was privileged to participate in a Digital Records Curation Programme Study School facilitated by James Lowry and Margaret Crockett as part of ICA’s Africa Programme. The programme occurred at an opportune time when the Records Management Department at the National University of Science and Technology in Zimbabwe was in the process of rebranding its Bachelor’s Degree programme in Records and Archives Management and reviewing the curriculum to match the many digital advancements that have engulfed the world across all disciplines, including records and archives management. Using the content and knowledge I acquired during the training programme, I was able to contribute immensely to the curriculum review and rebranding exercises. The proposed changes have since been approved by Zimbabwe’s Council on Higher Education and the department’s name changed to Information Management and Technology. The newly approved programme is expected to commence in the next academic year beginning August 2021.
Killing two birds with a single stone, I also used the material I got from the training programme to develop a Digital Curation syllabus for Level Two students pursuing a Bachelors’ Degree in Records management and Archival Science at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi where I am currently a Post-doctoral Researcher in Records Management and Archival Science. The Digital Curation course is spread across two semesters, offered in two phases as Digital Curation one and Digital Curation two.
I am so grateful to ICA for the Digital Curation training programme and I look forward to continued capacity building from ICA. The Study Schools are critical in building an informed community of archival educators who can competently address topical issues and teach the required knowledge and expertise to future records managers and archival scientists. Thumbs up to ICA, keep up the good job you are doing for the records management and archival profession.
Forget Chaterera-Zambuko, Postdoctoral student, Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi. rumbieforget@gmail.com