Coordinated archive and registry management for higher quality

A review conducted by internal auditors last year identified significant deficiencies in KTH’s archive and registry management. The audit found that only a small number of documents in KTH’s archives were handled correctly and authorised according to established controls.

“Archives and document registration is a neglected area at KTH,” Anna Larssamils, Head of the Archives and Registry Group at VS says.

Larssamils explains that there has been a lack of clear governance in this area, with differing priorities given to the task within the organisation.

“Rules for archiving and document registration already exist, but these have not always been followed, and there has also been ignorance of the importance of doing the right thing within the university. Hence the varying quality,” Larssamils says.

She believes the shortcomings in archiving and document registers create significant challenges, as it is impossible to archive documents that are not properly registrated. It also complicates the retrieval of documents when requests for disclosure arise.

“KTH has also built up an archive debt over a long period of time, and there are certainly documents within the organisation that employees have not believed should be registred and archived,” she says.

Each school within KTH already has its own document coordinator. Since the beginning of the year, these coordinators have been integrated into the organisation’s archive and registry group. The new coordinated function will ensure uniform, high-quality archiving and document registration that complies with laws and regulations, as well as ensuring better searchability.

A new series structure for registration number has been introduced, creating a unified system that applies across the entire organisation.

“In the future, we hope that more documents will be registered,” Larssamils says.

Starting 1 March, KTH will also introduce a coordinating function to manage extensive disclosures of public documents when the public contacts the university to request them.

Archives and document registration at KTH – In Brief:

• The archives and registry group within the University Administration is responsible for helping employees manage documents properly. Employees should direct their questions to the group or contact registratur@kth.se  to get a registration number for a document or if there is uncertainty about whether a document should be registered.
• The archives and registry function now manages the opening and closing of cases.
• Employees can be authorised to handle their own documents within a case.
• Managers are responsible for ensuring their staff understand their responsibilities and have the necessary knowledge to register documents and maintain records.
• Reading rights to the diary (W3D3) are required to read decisions, for example. To obtain reading rights, employees must first complete a training course in W3D3, which is available in Canvas.

About archive and document registration on the intranet (in Swedish)