Evaluation of Institutional Conditions for Electronic Records Management (ERM) in Turkey: Results of Surveys Carried out in 17 Institution

Abstract

The InterPARES 3 Project is an international research project composed of numerous regional, national and multinational research teams. One of the fundamental tasks of the research is to evaluate the digital records management practices of test-bed institutions within different sectors in each region or country to allow the Project’s researchers to better understand the nature and scope of the similarities and differences of these practices both within and between institutions in different sectors and, eventually, across cultural boundaries. Accordingly, TEAM Turkey has evaluated seventeen test-bed institutions from six sectors: Education, Research, Publishing, Health, Military and Government. This research involved qualitative and quantitative analyses of each institution from different perspectives, including their technological capabilities, their staff structures, and their digital records policies. This paper presents the TEAM’s preliminary findings, which indicate that although these seventeen institutions exhibit different records management characteristics due to their unique organizational structures, they nevertheless share some similarities in their digital records management policies and some of their other related policies. Given the wide scope of the institutions examined, it is felt that these findings accurately reflect the broader picture of the current nature and status of digital records management in Turkey and, as such, provide critical insight into the digital records management processes that affect Turkey’s digital records management infrastructure.