Shaping a profession? A new professional context and changing status for registrars in Sweden

In order to work more efficiently with internal and external processes, public organisations are working with reorganisation and centralisation of documentation practices as part of a holistic approach to manage and control information flows. The registry function has a long tradition built on legislative requirements concerning registration of official documents in order to fulfil the citizens' rights to access information. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate challenges related to recordkeeping legislative awareness within a public organisation and how a changing context may impact on the registrars' status.

The data presented and analysed are based on a longitudinal case study of a centralised registry function project undertaken by a Swedish local government body (a municipality). Interviews have been used as the primary data collection method.

The findings identify challenges that result from a lack of recordkeeping skills and recordkeeping legislative awareness that needs to be solved in order to reach a successful implementation. Even though the registry function is identified as strategically important, the registrars have not reached the status “expert”. Changing context does not necessarily lead to a change in status. It is a more complex process, which includes attitudes, knowledge and skills.

The research is limited by being a case study in a single organisation in the Swedish public sector context.

The findings could be useful for public organisations that intend to reorganise and centralise documentation practices. Furthermore, the findings contribute to record keeping practitioners and also to stakeholders within public organisations.

Registrars as an occupational group in Sweden have not been the focus of any extensive academic research. In view of its new strategic importance the registry function has benefitted from organisational restructuring; research is needed on registrars as a possible future “records management profession”, which does not currently exist in Sweden.