Purpose

In the wake of the fourth industrial revolution, where most information is accessible online, archives should be visible online for them to fulfil their legislated mandate and facilitate access to information resources. The Covid-19 pandemic has further underscored the importance of online platforms in making archives accessible without the public having to visit archival institutions physically. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which public archival institutions of South Africa are visible online with the view to deepen their understanding of how archives promote themselves online.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employed content analysis to establish the online content of public archival institutions in South Africa. A google search was conducted using the names of the archival institutions as search terms. The top results obtained after the search were recorded for further analysis.

Findings

The findings suggest that public archival institutions in South Africa have limited online presence. Only the National Archives of South Africa had an active website with collections that are accessible online. Some provincial archives had websites hosted by their parent bodies while others had no websites at all. Only the Limpopo and Eastern Cape provincial archives had their Facebook pages in the top results. There were no signs of other social media sites in the top results.

Originality/value

The study concludes that public archival institutions are not visible online. All provincial archives need to have websites where they can be accessed. The use of social media platforms needs to be prioritised. In this fourth industrial revolution age, people communicate and interact online. Public archival institutions should therefore make it their primary mandate to take the archives to where the people are currently meeting.

中文翻译：

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南非公共档案机构的在线存在

目的

在第四次工业革命之后，大多数信息都可以在线访问，档案应该在线可见，以便他们履行其法定任务并促进对信息资源的访问。Covid-19 大流行进一步强调了在线平台在使公众无需亲自访问档案机构即可访问档案方面的重要性。本研究的目的是检查南非公共档案机构在网上的可见度，以加深他们对档案馆如何在网上宣传自己的理解。

设计/方法/途径

该研究采用内容分析来建立南非公共档案机构的在线内容。使用档案机构的名称作为搜索词进行了谷歌搜索。记录搜索后获得的最佳结果以供进一步分析。

发现

调查结果表明，南非的公共档案机构在线存在有限。只有南非国家档案馆拥有一个活跃的网站，其中包含可在线访问的馆藏。一些省级档案馆拥有由其上级机构托管的网站，而另一些省级档案馆则根本没有网站。只有林波波省和东开普省档案馆的 Facebook 页面在搜索结果中名列前茅。顶部结果中没有其他社交媒体网站的迹象。

原创性/价值

该研究得出结论，公共档案机构在网上不可见。所有省级档案馆都需要有可以访问的网站。需要优先使用社交媒体平台。在这个第四次工业革命时代，人们在线交流和互动。因此，公共档案机构应将把档案带到人们当前会面的地方作为其首要任务。