http://www.sajim.co.za/editorial.main.11nr1.asp?print=1


   
  Editorial Vol.11(1) March 2009

The first article of the eleventh volume of the South African Journal of Information 
Management opens discussion with a report on how to increase or rather improve the value 
of knowledge workers in a large enterprise. This article by Steyn and Du Toit (Maximising 
the value of knowledge workers) focuses on the role of knowledge workers, as established 
via an empirical survey to determine the role and contribution of knowledge workers to the 
objectives of a South African technology-oriented company. A high percentage of 
respondents indicated a positive relationship between a worker's position on the 
organisational hierarchy and the opportunities for the worker to make knowledge 
contributions. It was found that, in general, the surveyed enterprise was not really geared to 
any future knowledge demand and that the knowledge workers were sensitive to this 
shortcoming.  

Questions of technological inclusion and exclusion in sub-Saharan Africa via an analysis of 
the South African governmental discourse on indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) are being 
asked in the article by Lotriet, Matthee and Mazanderani. In their article entitled Selective 
exclusion: the digital divide in the context of indigenous knowledge systems in South Africa 
the authors first discuss the gap separating individuals who have access to new technology, 
and thus to knowledge and specifically indigenous knowledge, and those who do not have 
access. As the aim of the research was to analyse government discourse pertaining to IKS in 
the context of the digital divide, a search was carried out on the official repository of South 
African government speeches by senior figures in the Department of Science and 
Technology. The speeches were delivered to diverse audiences, ranging from South African 
government representatives and African peers to international bodies and diverse IKS 
holders and practitioners. The analysis conducted on the South African governmental 
discourse on IKS revealed a much more complex relationship with ICT in the context of 
development than is often assumed.  

'Electronic records management has become an essential business activity and an element of 
compliance with regulation in many countries', is the opening argument of Kyobe, Molai and 
Salie in their article Investigating electronic records management and compliance with 
regulatory requirements in a South African university. To prove this statement their 
investigation questioned the extent to which academics and students at a leading university in 
South Africa managed electronic records in accordance with good practices and regulatory 
requirements. Literature on electronic records management (ERM) and regulatory 
compliance was analysed to create a framework for effective records management. A survey 
was then conducted to test this framework with mainly academic staff and students of 
various faculties. The results revealed several incidents of poor records management and lack 
of compliance with regulations. Many academics and students were unaware of legislative 
requirements and penalties. Read more about the respondents' lack of good file management, 
for example not backing up or archiving records regularly as there were no standard 
procedures to be followed. 

The last article, Effect of online social networking on employee productivity covers a very 
important issue in the social networking environment, namely that of the impact of online 
networking on employee productivity. In their contribution, Ferreira and Du Plessis explain 
that the effect of online social networking (OSN) on employee productivity has not received 
much scholarly attention. Most likely the reason lies in the social nature of social networking 
sites and OSN, which is assumed to have a negative effect on employee productivity and not 

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bear organisational benefit. The authors consequently investigated recent Internet 
developments as seen in the social Web and specifically investigated the effect of OSN on 
employee productivity and what some of the consequences would be if employees were 
allowed unrestricted access to these networks. In their article the authors indicate how social 
networks can be used to increase collaboration between individuals who share a common 
interest or goal. Therefore, increased collaboration will stimulate knowledge sharing between 
individuals with the possible effect of increased productivity. However, the risks associated 
with OSN should be noted, such as loss of privacy, bandwidth and storage consumption, 
exposure to malware and lower employee productivity. 

Pieter van Brakel  

Scientific Editor  

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Published by InterWord Communications for Department of Information and Knowledge Management, 
University of Johannesburg

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