Exploring Public Recordkeeping Behaviors in Wiki-Supported Public Consultation Activities in the New Zealand Public Sector

Government agencies rely on public records for public service provision, public consultation, tracking and monitoring public management performance, and maintaining consistency and continuity in government. In New Zealand, several government agencies have used new wiki-supported public consultation environments, leading to the creation of public records. So far however, there is no empirical knowledge available on how individual public servants have identified and managed these new electronic public records.Applying a theoretical perspective of public servants´ policy discretion in identifying and managing public records, this paper presents empirical research findings of recordkeeping behaviors in two New Zealand-based case studies in which government agencies have used wikis in their public consultation activities. Both cases demonstrate the need for public servants to explore new appreciative settings for recordkeeping while dealing with new wiki-enabled public sector environments.