“The information has moved away from home”: Conceptions about how an outsourcing policy affects public records management

Traditionally, public records have been handled and preserved by each creating or receiving agency separately. The existing legal framework in Sweden is still based on this principle. However, recent developments – digital technologies paired with new ways of working – create a more dispersed and complex body of archives. What this means for the practical records management can be discussed. This paper explores the potential consequences of implementing an outsourcing policy at a public agency, by focusing on issues actualized and seen as important by employees. The aim is to understand how the creation of public archives may be affected. The chosen research approach, phenomenography, aims to capture variation in perceptions and describe the range of possible interpretations on a particular topic. Semi structured interviews were conducted with 15 representatives from the agency. The result identified seven matters of particular importance, including effects on information governance, knowledge transfer, and the role of a public agency.