Accountability and accessibility: ensuring the evidence of e‐governance in Australia

Abstract

Purpose

To review the challenges associated with ensuring the capture and preservation of and long‐term access to government records and publications in the digital age and to describe how libraries and archives in Australia are responding to the challenge.

Design/methodology/approach

Literature‐ and case‐study‐based conceptual analysis of what makes government online information so vulnerable and initiatives at the National Library of Australia and the National Archives of Australia.

Findings

Democracy, governance, consultation and participation all depend on the availability of authentic and reliable information. Government agencies as well as educational and research institutions are producing increasingly large volumes of information in digital formats only. While Australia has done more than most countries to date to address the need to identify, collect, store and preserve government publications and public records in digital formats, large amounts of information are still at risk of loss.

Research limitations/implications

Focuses on circumstances and initiatives in the Australian Government.

Practical implications

Librarians and archivists need to become more proactive in influencing the behaviour of government agencies to ensure that important evidence of democratic governance is created and managed in ways that facilitate their accessibility and long‐term preservation.

Originality/value

Emphasises the vital role that information management agencies such as libraries and archives have to play in supporting transparent and accountable governance in the digital age, and explores innovative strategies for ensuring the long‐term preservation of this important documentary heritage material for the use of future generations.

Citation

Cunningham, A. and Phillips, M. (2005), "Accountability and accessibility: ensuring the evidence of e‐governance in Australia", Aslib Proceedings, Vol. 57 No. 4, pp. 301-317. https://doi.org/10.1108/00012530510612059