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A reliable reflection? Challenges when documenting physical infrastructure
Records Management Journal Pub Date : 2021-05-18 , DOI: 10.1108/rmj-11-2020-0040
Ann-Sofie Klareld

Purpose

Maintaining infrastructures such as roads, bridges, railways and other civil constructions requires long term documentation that ideally should comprise a reliable reflection of the physical structures. However, the Swedish Transport Administration (TRA) states that its documentation is currently inadequate and that new working method are needed. The purpose of this paper is to study how the agency is working to improve their recordkeeping, by taking a closer look at two new positions that now coordinate the delivery of documentation from the building process teams to the agency. What is their role and what challenges do they face with regard to creating, sharing and preserving records with other areas across the TRA? The study’s purpose is also to discuss the concept of the archive in the current environment and how existing archival theory can be applied to long term documentation.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a case study method, as the aim was to explore and understand recordkeeping practices and theoretical implications, without seeking to generalize the findings outside the Swedish Government. Two positions – the delivering coordinator and the receiving coordinator – were chosen as relevant focuses, due to their function as links between departments in which it was previously indicated that creating and maintaining reliable recordkeeping was difficult and where organizational structure might challenge the traditional archival theory. Documents and reports from the agency were used as research material through documentary analysis and a questionnaire consisting of 10 questions was used to conduct semi-structured interviews with 10 coordinators at the agency.

Findings

Obtaining the correct documentation at the right time and of appropriate quality from contractors and entrepreneurs was difficult, despite detailed contractual rules and regulations identifying what should be delivered. The work of the coordinators was formally connected to the important tasks of creating, sharing and preserving records with other areas within the TRA, but in reality, the coordinators faced several difficulties due to expectations of their professional role, practices in information management between different departments and archives creation at the entire agency. The interviewees therefore had differing perceptions of what was meant by TRA’s “archive”: it was variously perceived as only including the registry; comprising only the records preserved by the archives department or encompassing only those records in the registry or in the agency’s business system/s. Findings indicate that the concepts of multiple provenances and the recordkeeping “single mind” might provide insights to better inform the recordkeeping principles needed to improve the current environment.

Research limitations/implications

The study was limited to the 10 interviewees in 2 roles, although there are more positions involved in handling records. Future studies may solidify or contest the different themes identified in the present paper, through interviews of those additional roles at the agency. This paper uses the Swedish concept of the archive as a point of departure in its analysis.

Originality/value

By increasing the knowledge about positions that are responsible for handling records at an agency, this paper can get a better understanding of how they affect the ultimate creation of archives. This will give Swedish public agencies and other organizations, better results when they are creating strategies to preserve reliable records for the future.



中文翻译:

可靠的反映?记录物理基础设施时的挑战

目的

维护道路、桥梁、铁路和其他土木建筑等基础设施需要长期记录,理想情况下应该包括物理结构的可靠反映。然而,瑞典交通管理局 (TRA) 表示其文件目前不充分,需要新的工作方法。本文的目的是通过仔细研究现在协调从建筑流程团队向机构交付文件的两个新职位,研究机构如何努力改进他们的记录保存。他们的角色是什么,他们在创作方面面临哪些挑战,与整个 TRA 的其他区域共享和保存记录?该研究的目的还在于讨论当前环境中档案的概念以及如何将现有档案理论应用于长期文献。

设计/方法/方法

该研究使用案例研究方法,目的是探索和理解记录保存实践和理论意义,而不是寻求在瑞典政府之外概括研究结果。两个职位——交付协调员和接收协调员——被选为相关重点,因为它们作为部门之间的纽带,之前表明创建和维护可靠的记录保存很困难,并且组织结构可能会挑战传统的档案理论。该机构的文件和报告通过文献分析被用作研究材料,并使用由 10 个问题组成的问卷对机构的 10 位协调员进行半结构化访谈。

发现

尽管详细的合同规则和规定确定了应交付的内容,但在正确的时间从承包商和企业家那里获得正确的文件和适当的质量是很困难的。协调员的工作正式与 TRA 内其他领域创建、共享和保存记录的重要任务相关联,但实际上,由于对他们的专业角色的期望、不同部门之间的信息管理实践,协调员面临着一些困难并在整个机构创建档案。因此,受访者对 TRA 的“档案”的含义有不同的看法:它被不同地认为只包括注册管理机构;仅包括档案部门保存的记录,或仅包含登记处或机构业务系统中的记录。调查结果表明,多个来源的概念和记录保存“单一思想”可能会提供见解,以更好地告知改善当前环境所需的记录保存原则。

研究限制/影响

尽管涉及处理记录的职位更多,但该研究仅限于 10 名受访者担任 2 个角色。未来的研究可能会通过对机构中这些额外角色的采访来巩固或质疑本文中确定的不同主题。本文使用瑞典的档案概念作为分析的出发点。

原创性/价值

通过增加有关机构负责处理记录的职位的知识,本文可以更好地了解它们如何影响档案的最终创建。这将使瑞典公共机构和其他组织在制定策略以在未来保存可靠记录时获得更好的结果。

更新日期:2021-07-15
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