Att upphandla e-arkiv : En undersökning av svenska kommuners kravspecifikationer

This study concerns the contracting of digital archives for Swedish municipalities and the needs and requirements that govern this. Since the early 2000s, the Swedish government has been interested in expanding the utilization of digital information management. In order to preserve “born digital” official documentation, digital archives are increasingly becoming a necessity for Swedish municipalities. This study considers what the requirements and requests are explicated in formal requirement specifications for such systems. Tobias Edvardssons framework from the book chapter “Kommersiella IT-avtal” (commercial IT-contracts) in the book “Rättsinformatik” edited by Cecilia Magnusson Sjöberg, as well as grounded theory, is used to discern pertinent categories of requirements. The study finds that the main areas of interest while negotiating a new digital archive can be divided into functional-, qualitative-, governing-, and economic requirements (in accordance with Edvardsson). Archival specifications and technical considerations are also central, as per findings using grounded theory with the support of such models as OAIS and Records Continuum Model. The study concludes that there still are considerable steps to take before reaching an e-archive solution that can be used on a broad scale to accommodate many different needs and restrictions. However, at the same time, the development of long-term preservation systems for digital records would benefit from more standardized guidelines on a national scale.