THE ROLE OF ARAB NATIONAL ARCHIVES IN SUPPORTING THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF THE ELECTRONIC RECORDS MANAGERS

The interest of National Archives in some Arab countries in developing the skills of records managers, and preparing qualified and trained staff to work in records centers is growing steadily. This trend on the part of the Arab National Archives coincides with the initiation of National Archives in some developed countries to provide training programs for records managers to provide them with sufficient knowledge and skills for the requirements and practices of electronic records management. This study presents the types and contents of training programs of records management in a number of foreign and Arab National Archives to extract the most important guidelines and practices that officials in the Arab archives centers can benefit from in planning and developing continuous training programs for electronic records managers. The study uses the descriptive analytical method in collecting data related to training programs in the National Archives it covers. Yet, it uses the comparative approach to compare some features of training programs among National Archives. In collecting data, the study relied on several tools, including a list of questions sent by e-mail to those responsible for training in US National Archives, and e-mail communication with those responsible for training in the other National Archives covered in the study so that the researcher can complete data related to the training programs provided. The study examined the features of training programs of electronic records managers provided by National Archives, such as training objectives, training techniques, trainers, trainees, training curricula, program duration (short-term or long-term), regularity of the program, the means of its presentation (seminars, webinars, etc...). Among the results of the study is that some document laws in the Arab countries (such as the Sultanate of Oman, Tunisia) emphasized the role of the National Archives in assisting the document departments in institutions to train records managers to be qualified to work in document departments. Moreover, Arab archives need to adopt long-term training programs to develop the skills of records managers in electronic records management, and to provide through its websites e-learning packages (webinars, workshops, video recordings, etc.) which can be used as a part of the training and update of information related to records management and the technologies used.