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Introduction. In this thesis we explore how access to government agencies' public records are affected by the changes of the digital age. Post-custodialism is the theory used to examine the different approaches government agencies take to ensure access and long-term preservation of their digital records. Method. Our material consists of the Official Report of the Swedish Government regarding archives, finalized in 2019, and the referral responses by the government agencies, as well as qualitative semi-structured interviews with archivists from eight different government agencies. Transcripts from the interviews and the official reports formed the data of analysis. Analysis. Qualitative and comparative methods were used to analyze the material. Post-custodial theory was also applied to the material. Results. Government archives have had varied success in adapting to the digital age. This can be attributed to a lack of common strategies on how to implement digital archives in the public sector as well as a lack of resources for the archival sector in general. The respondents showed a high awareness of the need to implement changes in order to ensure the long-term preservation of and access to their digital records, and expressed the need for more commonly developed solutions for the growing number of digital records created in today’s e-governments. Conclusion. The transition from custodial to post-custodial is well under way for the archives. The lack of resources is however a big problem, and it is keeping solutions that could help the archives and government administration as a whole from being implemented. Drawing on these results we argue that for archives to survive and flourish in this new age, more funding is needed to better implement common solutions to ensure that the national cultural heritage of the digital age survives. This is a two-year master's thesis in Archival Science. |
