Obstacles Facing the Implementation of the Electronic Archiving System at the Palestinian Local Authorities and Approaches to Address them: Tulkarm Municipality as a Model

Abstract

This study aimed at identifying the obstacles facing the implementation of the electronic archiving system at the Palestinian local authorities and approaches to overcome them. The study also sought to show the impact of some demographic variables (gender, age, job position, academic qualification and years of experience) on these obstacles. The sample of the study consisted of (132) employees at Tulkarm Municipality, who were selected through random stratified sampling method according to gender and job position. According to the opinion of the sample, the results showed that the human obstacles, facing the implementation of electronic archiving at the Palestinian local authorities, scored a high level with an average of (3. 70) and an estimated percentage of (74. 1%). In general, the proposed mechanisms to overcome the obstacles of implementing electronic archiving were highly approved among the study sample, with an average of (3. 82) and an estimated percentage of (76. 5%). There were no statistically significant differences in the study sample’s estimations of the obstacles, due to the variables of gender, job position, and academic qualifications. However, there were statistically significant differences in the study sample’s estimations of the obstacles, due to the variable of age, among the age groups of (25 - 39 years) and (18 - 24 years), in favor for the first group, and due to the variable of years of experience among those who have 11 - 15 years and 16 years of experience, in favor of the second category. The study concluded a number of recommendations; the most important of which are the need for organizing training courses for the staff at the local authorities to enhance their computer skills, and their capability of applying the electronic archiving system; the need for establishing specialized electronic archiving facilities; the need for establishing a convenient infrastructure for the implementation of the archiving system; the need for providing sufficient financial support and budgets; finally the need for issuing decisions, policies and regulations by the senior management in order to implement the electronic archiving system.