Records Management Journal

Records professionals: an invisible profession in Malaysia

Aliza Ismail Adnan Jamaludin

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Aliza Ismail Adnan Jamaludin, (2011),"Records professionals: an invisible profession in Malaysia", Records
Management Journal, Vol. 21 Iss 1 pp. 69 - 75
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Karen Anderson, (2007),"Education and training for records professionals", Records Management Journal,
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Records professionals: an
invisible profession in Malaysia

Records
professionals

Aliza Ismail and Adnan Jamaludin

Faculty of Information Management, University Technology MARA,
Shah Alam, Malaysia

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Abstract

69
Received 29 October 2009
Revised 5 May 2010
Accepted 9 August 2010

Purpose This study seeks to examine the existence of records professionals and their role in
Malaysian organizations.
Design/methodology/approach The study compares case studies done in six
government-controlled companies. Interviews were conducted with the persons handling the records
and information (including records in electronic environment) in the organizations. The interviews were
then transcribed and analyzed manually to obtain the comparative data from each case.
Findings The findings indicate that there are no real records professionals in Malaysian
organizations. The responsibility and accountability of documenting and managing the organizations
records are dispersed and decentralized. Records managers as a profession are not established within
the Malaysian organization structures. Generally there is no specific position of records manager in
Malaysian organizations. However, the archivists are confined at the National Archives and there
are no such positions at any of the case organizations studied.
Research limitations/implications The study selected six of the government-controlled
companies.
Practical implications Findings and discovery of the study are significant in confirming that
Malaysian organizations (both public and private) are taking their records management
responsibilities very unconscientiously with little understanding and support from the top
management. They have yet to realize the risk their organizations are facing for non-compliance to
records management standards and practices.
Originality/value The study confirms the non-existence of the records professionals position in
the formal structures of Malaysian organizations. Though their roles and responsibilities are vital in
the management and protection of records to support the business delivery of the organizations, their
functions are carried out without due recognition to the profession.
Keywords Records management, Archives management, Employees, Malaysia
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Randomly asking the people on the streets, who are the records professionals in
Malaysia the most likely answers are sorry . . . never heard of it before or pardon
me . . . what did you say? or just a shrug indicating their ignorance. Again if you ask
the Malaysian children what do they want to be when they grow up? Definitely the
answers do not include records manager or archivist but all the other well-known
and established professions such as doctors, engineers or architects. The obvious
indication is that this profession is unknown and invisible to the eyes and mind of the
general public in Malaysia.
Although the National Archives of Malaysia has been in existence for more than 50
years since 1957, and records regardless of their medium are being created every day
by almost everybody in organizations and individuals, it is ironic to note that not many

Records Management Journal

Vol. 21 No. 1, 2011
pp. 69-75
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0956-5698
DOI 10.1108/09565691111125116

RMJ
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70

people know exactly what the Archives is doing and why records and archives need to
be managed and preserved professionally, and who are the professionals responsible in
managing and preserving these records and archives.
In the context of this paper records professionals refers to both the records
managers and archivists who are significantly responsible in the management and the
preservation of the nations corporate memory. The continuity and sustainability of the
Malaysian documentary heritage literally lies in the expertise of these professionals.
Problem statement
In Malaysia the archival profession began with the establishment of the National
Archives in 1957. The archivists are practically stationed at the National Archives of
Malaysia. Malaysian records professionals at large suffer from low professional profile
and are not given due credit for their professionalism. This partly may be because of the
nature of their work which is unknown to the masses confined within the four walls of
the Archives and the limited contact with the government agencies who they serve.
For the past decades or so the National Archives of Malaysia has taken tremendous
effort to reach the public, through its rigorous outreach programs. However, this effort
confirms only one aspect of the National Archives role as the custodian of the nations
heritage. Thus the main role of the Archivists is seen as more of collecting archivists
who are responsible for acquiring, describing, preserving and giving access to the
archives. This efficiently fits in the image of a traditional archivist in traditional
archives of conventional records.
Until recently, Malaysian archivists were also responsible for the management of
active records in the Malaysian government agencies. Prior to the National Archives Act
2003, the responsibility of managing current records was under the jurisdiction of the
Prime Ministers Office. However, this new mandate has not placed the profession in any
better position. The records manager as a profession is still not established within
Malaysian organization structures. As the National Archives Act 2003 does not clearly
stipulate a mandatory appointment of records managers in government agencies, a
specific position of records manager is not visible in Malaysian organizations. With no
mandatory obligations, it leads to inadequate and limited capacity to manage records in
the organization since the budget is not allocated, there is an absence of proper storage
facilities, absence of vital records and disaster preparedness and recovery plans and
worse of all there are no core competencies identified and assigned responsibilities to the
right professionals. The role of records managers, although virtually present in every
type of organization, is assumed by other administrative personnel. The role can range
from one of a file clerk to the senior information officer of an organization (Johare, 2006).
Objectives
This paper intends to examine the existence of records professionals and their roles in
Malaysian government-controlled companies.
Research questions
.
Who are the records professionals in Malaysian organizations?
.
What are their roles in ensuring the documentary evidence of the organization
records is managed accordingly?

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Literature review
Records management professionals (National Archives of Australia, 2002) are
responsible for all aspects of records management, including the design,
implementation and maintenance of recordkeeping systems and their operations,
and for training users on records management and recordkeeping systems operations
as they affect individual practices.
A records manager as explained in one archival and records terminology glossary is
a person responsible for the administration of programs for the efficient and
economical handling, protecting and disposing of records throughout their life-cycle.
An archivist on the other hand, is responsible for appraising, acquiring, arranging,
describing, preserving and providing access to records of enduring value according to
the principles of provenance, original order and collective control to protect the
materials authenticity and context (Pearce-Moses, n.d.)
In the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, records management
professionals play a vital role in managing records to support organization business
and program delivery. In addition to the required competency profiles, code of practice
and best practice in records management they participate in professional organizations
and certification programs. Several professional organizations, such as the Association
of Records Managers and Administrators, provide continuing education and
professional affiliation in existence for the recognized professions. Certification
programs now exist for records and information managers. In the USA for example,
the Institute for Certified Records Managers supervises the examination and
qualifications for the certified records manager (CRM) designation (www.ICRM.org).
In Malaysia, there should be enough records professionals produced by the local
university i.e. Universiti Teknologi MARA at the range of 80-100 students per year
(Universiti Teknologi MARA, 2008, 2009). The University through the Faculty of
Information Management has offered a Bachelor of Science in Information Studies with
the specialization in Records Management since 2001. The program balanced the many
facets of managing records (including specialized records particularly medical records
management and legal records management) and archives and focused on the usage
and application of information technology in building records systems. The Faculty
has the foresight of the much-needed records and archival competencies in dealing
with the new generation of recordkeeping practices in organizations in order to ensure
the organizations business integrity and continuity (Universiti Teknologi MARA,
2001).
Methodology
The study utilizes the multiple case study approach to examine the existence of real
records professionals in Malaysian government-controlled companies. The data were
collected through interviews with personnel involved in the handling of records in the
organizations. The data collected from the interview are then transcribed, coded and
analyzed. Comparative analysis was done to search for similarities and differences in
each of the cases.
Findings and analysis
The study revealed that the professional platform is lacking in the Malaysian
environment where records professionals are concerned. From the six cases studied,

Records
professionals

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72

the most obvious trait of similarity is that the organizations records are not being
managed by the records professionals by qualification.
Case 1 is a leading national oil company wholly owned by the government of
Malaysia. In case 1, there is an absence of qualified records professionals in the
organization. The key personnel in charge are trained in Library Science and learn
about records management in on-the-job training. Other personnel doing the job of
managing records and electronic records are not trained in information management,
but many of them are from a computer science and engineering background. From the
researchers observation there is some concern on the part of these personnel about not
being able to rationalize the concept of information management, thus they faced
difficulties in acting as consultants and regulators in the implementation of records
management-related policies in the organization.
Case 2 is the nations largest operator of a multi-purpose port providing a
comprehensive range of conventional services such as handling of dry bulk, break bulk
and liquid cargo with back-up facilities that include transit sheds, warehouses,
mechanical handling equipment and bulk cranes. In case 2, records professionals are
not recognized and not regarded as critical to the organization. From the interview it
can be realized that any available personnel can be asked to do the job as an added
responsibility. They believed that there is no special training needed to manage
records records and archival competency could easily be picked up by any person
assigned to do the job. They believed that the information technology is in place in the
organization and that would sufficiently cater for their current information needs and
there is no urgency to go further beyond that.
Case 3 is the developer of Malaysias administrative capital of Putrajaya renowned as
the largest development project in the country. In case 3 there is a Document Control Unit
in the organization structure and it is headed by a person with a diploma in Public
Administration. She is learning on the job and she is not trained in records and archives
management or information management for that matter. This Unit is solely responsible
for handling the project incoming documents where the documents are received, sorted
and routed to the addressee. The respective officials in each department handled their
own created records both in paper and electronic forms. They did not realize the absence
of records professionals and how their role is critical to their organization.
Case 4 is the countrys leading railway services operator wholly owned by the
government, but currently operates as a private organization, responsible for its own
revenue and operations. Case 4 also revealed the absence of records professionals and
this is again as in case 3, not regarded as critical to the organization. The conventional
records are taken care of by the respective creator departments and their electronic
records are handled by the Information Technology Department.
Case 5 is a corporate organization owned wholly by the Malaysian Government,
under the Minister of Finance. It was incorporated and entrusted to be the national
organization for standards and quality, and also functions as a promoter of
technological excellence in the Malaysian industry to ensure international acceptance
of Malaysian products and services. In Case 5 again it shows that records professionals
are not regarded in this case. They reasoned that they need people with multi skills.
They do not need a specialized person in this field what they need is a professional
with multi skills, for example, engineers with information management skills or a
computer scientist with information management skills. They believe that this

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knowledge of managing records should be included as part of the curriculum of other

professional training.
Case 6 is Malaysias prominent investment organization responsible for promoting
share ownership among the indigenous citizens (Bumiputera) in the corporate sector. In
case 6 a records professional responsible for this task is a Library Science graduate
from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). Although appropriately placed, the scope of
responsibility does not utilize the records and archives competency. In this case the
findings display a very interesting situation as the records professional is placed at a
very senior level (vice-president) in the organizational structure and yet the function of
records management is not applied to the whole organization.
For all the cases, it can be seen that the role and functions of records management lie
with either the administrators for paper-based records or the information technology
(IT) personnel for electronic records. The administrators could either be an accountant,
auditor, or legal advisor by qualification and the IT personnel are mostly from a
computer science and IT education background. Since organizations need accurate and
reliable records to support business delivery, specialists in both records and electronic
records management should be established. Competency in records management is very
crucial in establishing and implementing systematic and effective records management
programs and services in Malaysian organizations. Skills and competencies are required
in the process of capturing records, organizing and describing records, providing access
to records, storing and protecting records, disposing of records and providing records
management services. It is obvious from the findings that these skills and competencies
are not observed among the personnel entrusted to undertake the task of managing an
organizations records and information.
Thus, it can be concluded that there are no real records professionals by
qualifications with records management competencies in the six organizations studied.
Personnel given the task of handling the organization records are from different
disciplines other than records management. The findings revealed there is a very low
awareness on the part of the organizations on the role of records professionals in
supporting the organizations efficient and viable operations. In other words, qualified
records professionals are not recognized and other professionals are given the tasks
and responsibilities of managing records in the organizations.
Since the right professionals are not in place, the present records personnel are not
able to demonstrate a professional body of knowledge not only to identify, describe and
make available the mere facts and data, but also to provide the meaning-rich
information of records as evidences of contextualized transactions. As a result, they are
not able to provide the means of assuring accountability and functions behind the
transactions, which in turn would lead to the preservation of the corporate memory and
the cultural heritage for the future.
The implications from the above findings are significantly important for the Malaysian
organizations to realize that their records and information are in fact at risk of not being
managed by the right professionals. Records created are not only used to provide
information, but also more importantly to give evidence of their business transactions and
to be preserved as their corporate resources. Records and archival competencies are
definitely required and crucial for effective delivery of records management programs.
Since the profession is not well-placed and established within the public and private
organizations, records management competencies that are available in the job markets

Records
professionals

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from the Records Management Program graduates (from the Faculty of Information
Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA) are not fully utilized. Looking at the
situation positively, it is a matter of time for the right professionals to take the helm of
navigating good records management program implementation in Malaysian
organizations and for these organizations to realize their mistakes for not hiring the
right professionals to do the job.

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74
Conclusion
It must therefore be emphasized that there is a crucial need for the Malaysian records
professionals, especially the archivists at the National Archives of Malaysia, to
reassume their role to make a shift in recordkeeping and records functional
requirement. They should be considering the idea of records audit strategies to
enhance their justification for mandatory existence in order to meet the challenges of
the changing society. For those serving the National Archives they have to visualize
themselves as the manager of the nations records responsible for the continuum value
rather than permanent value to ensure the continuity of the corporate memory of
Malaysia. They have to change their traditionally perceived archival mindset
(Acland, 1992) to manage the records as organization information strategy especially in
meeting the legal and audit statutory demands.
Until records professionals are able to redefine their role in the society they would not be
recognized as key professionals who could contribute positively towards nation building.
In order to succeed the profession needs to acquire a new professional status the present
image portrayal as keeper of records and custodian of documentary heritage should be
erased from the publics mind and should be replaced with the image of professionals who
are dynamic and relevant as managers of intellectual capital of the organization assuming
the role of knowledge manager and becoming part of the knowledge delivery system which
the organization could not do without. The professionals must indeed embrace records and
information management as strategic and mission critical providing the new role of
effective management of organization records and information as essential evidence and
organizational assets to ensure their competitive advantage.
References
Acland, G.I. (1992), Managing the record rather than the relic, Archives and Manuscripts,
Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 57-63.
National Archives of Australia (2002), AS ISO 15489 Records Management, National Archives
of Australia, Canberra.
Pearce-Moses, R. (n.d.), A glossary of archival and records terminology, Society of American
Archivists, Chicago, IL, available at: www.archivists.org/glossary/list.asp (accessed June
1, 2008).
Johare, R. (2006), Education and training needs in electronic records management: a case study
of record keepers in Malaysian federal ministries, Malaysian Journal of Libraries and
Information Science, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 1-21.
Universiti Teknologi MARA (2001), Curriculum of Records Management Program, Faculty of
Information Management, (unpublished revised 2009).
Universiti Teknologi MARA (2009), Convocation handbook (unpublished).
Universiti Teknologi MARA (2008), Convocation handbook (unpublished).

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Further reading
Association of Records Managers and Administrators (ARMA) (2007), Records and information
management core competencies, available at: www.arma.org (accessed 23 May 2008).
Bearman, D. (1991), An indefensible bastion: archives as a repository in the electronic age,
Archival Management of Electronic Records, Archives and Museum Informatics Technical
Report No. 13, AMI, Pittsburgh, PA, pp. 14-24.
Cook, T. (1994), Electronic records, paper minds: the revolution in information management and
archives in the post-custodial and post-modernist era, Archives and Manuscripts, Vol. 22
No. 2, pp. 300-28.
Government of Alberta (2004), Records management competency profiles, March, available at:
www.im.gov.ab.ca (accessed May 30, 2005).
International Organization for Standardization (2001), ISO 15489-1 Information and
Documentation Records Management Part 1: General, International Organization for
Standardization, Geneva.
McKemmish, S. and Upward, F. (1991), The archival document: a submission to the Inquiry into
Australia as an Information Age, Archives and Manuscripts, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 17-31.
National Archives of Australia (2002), Qualifications for records manager, Archives Advice,
Vol. 15, August, available at: www.naa.gov.au/recordkeeping/rkpubs/advice15.html
(accessed July 21, 2003).
National Archives of Canada (now Library and Archives Canada) (2002), Information and
records management competency profile, available at: www.imforumgi.gc.ca/products/
comp/comprofile4_e.html (accessed September 9, 2003).
Records Management Association of Australasia (RMAA) (2006), Statement of knowledge for
recordkeeping professionals, available at: www.rmaa.com.au (accessed May 24, 2008).
Corresponding author
Aliza Ismail can be contacted at: aliza0110@gmail.com

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