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e-TERM
About e-TERM

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About e-TERM

:: Why is there a need for e-TERM?
:: What is the context of e-TERM?
:: Who will benefit from the project?
:: How can it be trans-national?
:: How is e-TERM funded?

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Why is there a need for e-TERM?

The records of human activity are now often kept in electronic rather than paper format. It is vital for archivists and administrators to know how to manage these records so that:

  • Business can be run efficiently
  • The working of government can be transparent
  • Organisations can be held accountable for their actions and decisions
  • The rights of citizens and other stakeholders can be protected
  • Cultural heritage can be safeguarded in the long term.

Many practising archivists and records managers are only just beginning to learn how to manage electronic records as the technological revolution of the last three decades impacts on their work. Similarly many administrators are becoming concerned about how they should be filing and classifying records in electronic format and how to ensure that electronic records remain accessible to their organisation for as long as they are needed. Organisations throughout Europe have a need to manage electronic records effectively.

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What is the context of e-TERM?

  1. The DLM-Forum (Donnees Lisibles par Machine), established in 1996, testifies to the EU's and member states' recognition of the importance of the proper management of electronic records. It is a multi-disciplinary meeting of archivists, records creators, administrators, industrialists and researchers. It aims to foster co-operation in the field of electronic records. Training is one of its priorities.
  2. Besides the DLM-Forum, other European groups of experts and stakeholders have emphasised the importance of ensuring the authenticity and integrity of electronic records:
    • 1994 Report of the European Group of Experts on Archives
    • 1997 European Experts' Meeting on Electronic Records.
  3. The DLM-Forum's Working Party on Training recommended in June 1998 that a core programme be developed for training in the skills and techniques necessary to manage electronic records effectively. The working party recommended that the programme should be based on the RECPRO project, a cycle of seminars in electronic records management funded under the SOCRATES initiative. RECPRO was undertaken by a team consisting of:
    • The Netherlands Archive School
    • The University of Northumbria at Newcastle
    • The Fachhochschule in Potsdam
    • The University of Tampere.
  4. e-TERM was established in 1999. It builds on RECPRO and draws on activity in Germany, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom.

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Who will benefit from the project?

Direct beneficiaries will include:

  • Workers new to archives and records management who need specific training and professional development in managing electronic records
  • Experienced archivists and records managers who wish to update their skills
  • Administrators and managers in all sectors who create and use electronic records
  • Educators and designers of training programmes who wish to provide electronic records management training
  • Training managers who need to identify an appropriate electronic records training programme for their staff.

Indirect beneficiaries include:

  • Managers, and owners of small and medium-sized enterprises, who will be able to take advantage of the training to improve the efficiency, cost-effectiveness and accountability of their organisations
  • Young graduates who will be able to benefit from training in a vital area of information resource management
  • Planners at a regional level who will be able to call on training for administrators, managers and archivists which is appropriate and relevant to the region.

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How can it be trans-national?

Although regions and cultures within Europe are very diverse and recordkeeping traditions can be very different, there is much consensus on the principles of good archives and records management. Much can be learned and shared across the national frontiers.

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How is e-TERM funded?

e-TERM is funded by the European Union's Leonardo da Vinci programme. This is an action programme to implement a European Community vocational training policy. It supports the lifelong learning strategies of member states and innovative trans-national initiatives for promoting the knowledge, aptitudes and skills necessary for successful integration into working life and the full exercise of citizenship.

In setting out to provide a vocational in-service programme for electronic records training, e-TERM dovetails with the aims of the Leonardo de Vinci programme with respect to life-long learning.

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This page was last updated on 24 August 2001

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Copyright © 2001 UCL :: CONTACT: e-TERM Project Manager ::