Mid Sweden University

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to study the development and implementation of metadata schemes in Swedish governmental agencies, in order to gain a better understanding of recordkeeping practices in contemporary organisations and of the use of metadata and practical implementation of metadata schemes.

Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on two case studies. The data have been collected through qualitative interviews, e-mail correspondence and analysis of documentary sources, and analysed with help of the records continuum model and the conceptual framework presented in the international standard for metadata, ISO/TS 23081.

Findings – The results from this study show that the agencies had similar reasons to develop metadata schemes, namely to established a unitary and consistent description of records, to enhance retrieval and exchange of information, and to provide external users access to records in compliance with the 24/7-agency vision. The agencies have, however, chosen different approaches to metadata and based their schemes on different models. This has affected the possibility of capturing contextual relations and transactionality, and thus of guaranteeing the evidential properties of records. The agencies are to various extents covering the different aspects of recordkeeping. None of the agencies are, however, acting in all dimensions of the records continuum model.

Originality/value – The paper shows how the records continuum model can be used as an analytical tool in the study of recordkeeping practices. It further contributes with empirical findings to a field where still little research is done. The paper can also be of value to practitioners seeking to develop and implement metadata schemes for records.

The development of information technology and the rise of the Internethave rendered a large-scale digitization and disseminationof originally analog information objects. On the Web sites L¨ararnasHistoria (“History of Teachers” www.lararhistoria.se) and Ingenj¨orshistoria (“History of Engineers” www.ingenjorshistoria.se),records from present-day white-collar and professional nationalunions and their predecessors, are published together with publications,collections, moving images, and other materials. The purposeof this study is to analyze the remediation of this originally analogmaterial. This article will discuss the purposes of the Web sites, therelation of digitized objects to the original analog information objectsand to the original context, and what kind of artifacts theseWeb sites constitute. The result is not a mere transfer to a new technologicalplatform, but a transformation into something different.

Records are more and more important as instruments of trust, for instance to ascertain accouworthiness in relation to records, and to analyze the relation between the increasing reliance on formal documentation in contemporary organizations and the requirements on records and recordkeeping systems that has been advanced recent years. It can be argued that the effort to enhance trustworthiness actually is a manifestation of diminishing trust. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Archiving is the key to transparency and accountability, concepts that symbolize good governance. In post-conflict societies like Sierra Leone and Liberia in West Africa, information is crucial to the reconciliation and democratisation processes. Sierra Leone and Liberia have just emerged from brutal civil wars as a result of repressive governments that have not been accountable to the people nor been transparent. The mass violation of human rights and the international humanitarian law led to the establishment of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions in both countries. The Sierra Leonean TRC mission was completed in 2004 while the Liberian one is still on-going. In Sierra Leone, investigations of the violations against the civilian population resulted into a report and the same is expected with the ongoing TRC work in Liberia. Ethically, given the fact that the contributions to the TRC findings are from a traumatised people, the recommendations of the TRC should be embraced in the formulation of social and economic policies that would address the articulated root causes of the conflict. However, preliminary results suggest that obstacles to the democratization of information in African post-conflict societies are many: corruption and weak political will, widespread poverty, illiteracy, lack of information skills, information technology, and electricity and telephone connections. This is further exacerbated by a shortage of professional personnel in handling information.

Information technology and political motives, e.g. e-governance, freedom of information legislation, has recent years lead to an increasing emphasis on users and access to records, but little research based knowledge about those issues exist so far. The main focus of the previous research is the use of non-current records in archival repositories. The aim of this thesis is to make a contribution to the research field, in order to gain a better understanding of the information behaviour of users of records in contemporary organizational settings. The research questions addressed are:

§ How are records used in contemporary organizations?- In what context and for what purposes are records used?- What user categories can be identified?

§ How is the search for records mediated?- What intermediaries are used in the search process?- How well do the features of the artefactual intermediaries serve the users' information needs?- What is the role of human intermediaries?

An additional purpose of the study is to contribute to theory development, and to provide a conceptual model of the information behaviour of users of records that can form the basis for further research.

The thesis is based on explorative case studies undertaken in two contemporary Swedish public organizations, one municipality and one governmental agency. Data was collected through interviews, analysis of documentary sources and complementary observations. The analysis of the findings was guided by a theoretical framework consisting of activity theory informed by concepts from archival theory and models of information behaviour.

The results of the cases studies showed that information behaviour of users of records and the search process could be described as a part of an activity system. The search process was a sub-ordinated activity of other activities. The needs for records was generated by a task or accomplishment of anykind with purpose to achieve something. Those needs motivated the purposes of use of records: material, operational, accountability seeking or knowledge enhancing purposes. The subjects, users in collaboration with the registrars and archivists, seeked to obtain records with help of different mediational means, e.g. artifactual intermediaries as the journal and the archives inventory that could be defined as representational systems, in order to reach a certain outcome: fact-finding, re-construction of past actions and events, regaining experience and knowledge, verifying status, or illustrating and exemplifying.

A variety of user groups, internal as well as external, could be identified in both organizations. Those could act as direct or indirect users, and indirect use by one part meant direct use by another who acted as a mediator between the records and the end users. The external users could be defined as stakeholders of the organizations or other users. Users showed, with occasional exceptions, a preference for informal means of mediation, particularly personal communication.

Certain features of the formal representational systems, journals and inventories, could be identified, which made them less useful as search tool. Those were generated by contradictions and tensions within the organizations: contradictions within the representational systems; contradictions between the tasks of the users and the representational systems; contradictions between user requests and the access points in the representational systems; contradictions between external users and the activities of the organizations; contradictions between exogenous institutional conditions and the the activities of the organizations; and contradictions of a temporal character. These circumstances necessitated an active intervention of human intermediaries. This could be seen as an example of the division of labour in the organizations. Search and retrieval of records were part of the registrars’ and the archivists’ specific professional knowledge, but were not considered as primary tasks of other employees or, especially not, of the external users.

The results of the study contributes to to the knowledge about the use of records, and how records are approached. It provides a model of the search process that can form the basis for further research. The practical implications of the findings could be improved search tools and user services, i.e. enhanced access. The thesis can also contribute to theoretical enrichment of the field by combining a more comprehensive social theory with archival theory and concepts from information science.

This article discusses the challenges of disseminating

information using ICTs (Information

and Communication Technologies) in postconflict

countries like Sierra Leone and focuses

on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's

(TRC) findings. The TRC findings were meant

to promote an understanding of the crimes

that were committed against the innocent civilians

during the war, and to contribute to the

prevention of future atrocities. It particularly

looks at the most marginalized groups, namely,

women and children. The TRC findings were

published in both a book and electronic form.

Some simpler versions of the findings were

also published by some NGOs but nevertheless,

the diffusion of information into parts

of the society where it is needed mostly has

been inadequate. The Internet is a medium

used to disseminate information effectively

from one to many. The electronic version of the

findings is available on the Internet but access

to it requires information skills and access to

ICTs. It is argued that lack of ICTs and information

skills is an obstacle to the empowerment

of women and children in Sierra Leone,

which also hinders sustainable development.

This article discusses the challenges of disseminating

information using ICTs (Information

and Communication Technologies) in postconflict

countries like Sierra Leone and focuses

on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's

(TRC) findings. The TRC findings were meant

to promote an understanding of the crimes

that were committed against the innocent civilians

during the war, and to contribute to the

prevention of future atrocities. It particularly

looks at the most marginalized groups, namely,

women and children. The TRC findings were

published in both a book and electronic form.

Some simpler versions of the findings were

also published by some NGOs but nevertheless,

the diffusion of information into parts

of the society where it is needed mostly has

been inadequate. The Internet is a medium

used to disseminate information effectively

from one to many. The electronic version of the

findings is available on the Internet but access

to it requires information skills and access to

ICTs. It is argued that lack of ICTs and information

skills is an obstacle to the empowerment

of women and children in Sierra Leone,

which also hinders sustainable development.

This article discusses the challenges of disseminating

information using ICTs (Information

and Communication Technologies) in postconflict

countries like Sierra Leone and focuses

on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's

(TRC) findings. The TRC findings were meant

to promote an understanding of the crimes

that were committed against the innocent civilians

during the war, and to contribute to the

prevention of future atrocities. It particularly

looks at the most marginalized groups, namely,

women and children. The TRC findings were

published in both a book and electronic form.

Some simpler versions of the findings were

also published by some NGOs but nevertheless,

the diffusion of information into parts

of the society where it is needed mostly has

been inadequate. The Internet is a medium

used to disseminate information effectively

from one to many. The electronic version of the

findings is available on the Internet but access

to it requires information skills and access to

ICTs. It is argued that lack of ICTs and information

skills is an obstacle to the empowerment

of women and children in Sierra Leone,

which also hinders sustainable development.

Electronic document management (EDM) is a new form of information management. EDM are described to have certain business values in organizations, but no researches have been found about EDM and Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SME). In this paper we present an ongoing investigation in two SMEs guided by the following research questions: How are electronic documents used in the SMEs? and What are the business needs of the SMEs, and how do they correspond with stated EDM business values?. The study was carried out as two qualitative case studies in two SMEs in the north of Sweden. The results show that the business need for an SME corresponds with the business values of EDM. Yet is management of electronic document too dependent on individuals competence, very complex when many systems are involved, and the context where the document is created is not preserved. There is also an emergent need for an organizationally specific classification schema to enable information sharing between systems.