EMERGING DIGITAL RECORDS MANAGEMENT SKILLS REQUIRED OF OFFICE TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT GRADUATES FOR EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN EBONYI STATE

Abstract

The increasing rate of poor performance of Office Technology and Management (OTM) graduates necessitated this study. The study ascertained digital records management skills required of OTM) graduates for effective performance in tertiary institutions in Ebonyi State.  The study adopted a survey research design with a population of 302 administrative heads from six public tertiary institutions in Ebonyi State, studied without sampling. One research question guided the study, and two null hypotheses were tested. A validated structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The reliability of the instrument was established using trial-testing and data analyzed using Cronbach Alpha, which yielded a coefficient value of 0.77. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research question and determine the homogeneity of the respondents’ rating, while hypotheses were tested using ANOVA at a 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed, among others, that digital records management skills such as archival of enduring (historical and legal) records are highly required for effective performance of OTM graduates in tertiary institutions in Ebonyi state.  The result of the hypotheses showed that there is a significant difference in the mean ratings of administrative heads on digital records management skills required of OTM graduates for effective performance in tertiary institutions in Ebonyi State, based on years of working experience.  It was also discovered that there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of administrative heads on digital records management skills required of OTM graduates for effective performance in tertiary institutions in Ebonyi State, based on the type of institution. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that Office Technology and Management lecturers in tertiary institutions in Nigeria should be continuously retrained through in-service training, workshops, seminars, and conferences to update their digital records management skills. This is to enable them to transmit the emerging record management skills to their students during training for effective performance on graduation