This essay examines the possibilities for the use of ICT for learning in the subject of history. By interviewing history teachers in upper secondary school about their experiences and thoughts regarding the subjects of learning, history and ICT, as well as the relations there between, based on Mishra and Koehlers TPACK model, I come to the conclusion that ICT may enhance learning in history. I also conclude that ICT may create new learning environments in history, where knowledge may or may not grow. The more unique ways of using ICT in history, compared to other school subjects, appears to be the possibility of using a variety of new sources, for example digitized primary sources from archives, that perhaps will motivate students, and make it possible to work from a con- structivistic point of view in history. Other unique possibilities are to satisfy the need of concretizing and visualizing the history being taught, by using a broad range of different media when presenting it.

Digital preservation is a relatively new subject to Swedish archives. Alhough computers have been used for a long time, preservation has been made on paper and stored on shelves. These days a lot of cities in Sweden have investigated how to best secure the digital information for the future through electronic archiving, e-archives. One option is to hand in the information as soon as possible, but to let the producer keep the information ownership yet some time. The idea is to let the producers of the information answer questions and hand out material, since they are more competent on their field. This thesis analyzes how five different cities have organized the submission of information. I have used archiving models and interviews. For comparison the cities creating their e-archives have been set against Stockholm. There archive has been up and running for some time. The conclusion is that the solution using a transfer archive could be useful, if the material has got a lot of secrecy and one needs specific knowledge to handle the questions. The theoretical framework has been the life cycle model versus the records continuum model. Swedish city archives embrace the continuum approach early in the creation of the information, but the archivists believe in the life cycle model where all long term preservation comes to the point where no further changes can be done, to protect the authenticity of the information. Two years master’s thesis in Archive, Library and Museum studies. Archival science.

This master thesis is about the Estonian-Swedish astro-optician Bernhard Schmidt (1879-1935) and his legacy. He was born on the island of Nargö outside Tallinn in Estonia. In 1930 he invented a special optical system for telescopes called the Schmidt telescope or Schmidt camera. At that time Bernhard Schmidt was working as a freelance at the Bergedorf observatory outside Hamburg in Germany. His invention contributed to astronomical research which changed our view of the sky and of the universe. The time he was living in was politically turbulent and science was flourishing. The written sources about Bernhard Schmidt and his telescope are mainly published in German, Russian, Estonian and English. Almost nothing is published in Swedish. The sources to his personal history and the archive material concerning him are partly scattered and it is difficult to assemble a complete picture. The purpose is to find and to map out what kind of archive material is preserved about him. The aim is also to find out who is in charge of it and how accessible it is. Is there global access to the material? Observatories, museums and archives in Sweden, Germany and Estonia were visited to map his legacy. The theories of James Cuno (2008) and the triad or three principles of management: preservation, knowledge and access were used in the analysis of the findings. Most material is kept and preserved at the Hamburg Bergedorf observatory, University of Hamburg. This is also the place where Bernhard Schmidt spent the last years of his life and it is here we can find his burial site. At the Hamburg Bergedorf observatory today there is a Bernhard Schmidt archive, a Schmidt museum with the first prototype of his telescope and an archive of photographic plates with photographic pictures of the stars and other astronomical objects. The two archives are in a digitalizing process and when completed they will be globally accessible and a part of our global heritage.

This thesis analyzes how the Swedish National Archives manages its presence in social media by examining five local sections use of Instagram. By studying different forms of practices in relation to Instagram, the aim of the thesis is to define in what way the Swedish National Archives work with outreach activities on new forms of media platforms, here exemplified with Instagram. The thesis is based on semi-structured interviews with five archivists responsible for handling Instagram, analysis of the National Archives policy documents as well as an analysis of a selection of posts made by local sections of the National Archives on Instagram. The theoretical foundation of the thesis lies in practice theory and is based on an understanding of practice that focuses on statements, actions and rules that together constructs different forms of practices in regard to their context. The analysis of the three sources is a cross-examination of how these different forms of actions contribute to form practices which defines the National Archives use of Instagram. The results of the thesis indicate that the National Archives of Sweden, in line with many other archive institutions, mainly uses social media as a one-way communication form where primarily text-based information is distributed to interested followers. The interactive practices typical of social media is only used to a lesser extent. This is mainly due to the institution’s workload, a view on social media as a lesser form of outreach and several practices related to the national archives public mission as a provider of infor-mation. The findings also indicate that organizations use of social media is based on practices of trial-and-error that creates individual practices of posting material online within the organization.

To self-archive is to make research publications freely accessible by depositing them in an open digital archive or on a public website. The aim of this thesis is to explore what Swedish scientists think of self-archiving, what they know about it and how they make use of it, in order to understand why they do not self-archive more actively. A web survey was conducted which was answered by 296 scientists at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Results show that only 24 % have previous experience of self-archiving, but that a majority is willing to self-archive if there are no legal objections or if it is demanded by the research funder. The most important reasons why many scientists do not self-archive are that they feel uncertain about copyright issues and/or lack knowledge about self-archiving.

In this case study I research how three archivists at a Swedish municipal experience how the Corona pandemic have affected their work related to providing citizens with access to public records. In the answers from three qualitative interviews with two archivists at the municipal archive and one archivist working in the municipals’ intermediate archive for social services I interpret expressions of flexibility and stability, defined as an ability to adapt to change and usage of existing resources within the organization. The key findings of the study show that the aspect of digitalization, and the already existing digitalized grades, have afforded the archivists' work with some stability. Organizational planning has in turn enabled them a flexible approach to the changes brought by the pandemic. Furthermore, I analyze these findings through the democratic aspect of archives - the right to access public records to gain insight to governmental decisions – and find that some challenges are apparent. But overall, under current circumstances, the effect of the Corona pandemic on the municipals’ archival work with access to public records have been minimal.

Introduction. The aim of this thesis is to examine how Swedish private archival institutions perceive the possibility of being included in the Archival Law. At present the Archival Law of 1990 only applies to official documents from the public sector. Recently however a proposal to change the legislation so that it in part also applies to private archives has been made in the newly published Archival Inquiry commissioned by the government. A more far-reaching proposal to include the private archives in the law has also been made by the Swedish National Archives. Method. We conducted a qualitative research study using semi-structured interviews with 10 informants from 8 different private archival institutions in Sweden. Analysis. By presenting what has been said regarding legislation for private archives in previous archival inquiries, government propositions and other official reports we frame the idea of legislation for private archives by putting it in its culturalpolitical context. An important concept that permeates this thesis is the concept of cultural heritage and how it relates to private archives. The transcriptions from the interviews were analysed by the use of force-field analysis which has its roots in Karl Lewin’s field theory. Results. By collecting the informants thoughts concerning a new legislation for private archives and analysing them as forces working for (driving forces) and against (restraining forces) change we show the complexities surrounding this issue. Conclusion. In many cases uncertainty of what the consequences of the new legislation will be for the private archival institutions prevents them from supporting the change. Our informants also feel that the Swedish National Archives has a top-down perspective which prevents them from listening to and learn from the private sectors experiences. Collaboration between the public and the private sector seems to be the way forward. This is a two years master’s thesis in Archival Science

The use of standards has become widespread in the field of digital archiving. The most notable of these is the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) model. In the development and usage of such standards both researchers and practitioners have been similarly focused on the technical dimension of standards, prioritizing efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. Less attention has been paid to study the implementation of standards from a social perspective. Based on the reflexive methodology, suggested by Mats Alvesson and Kaj Sköldberg, and adopting an actor-network theory (ANT) approach, this study attempted to understand the role played by a technological artifact such as the OAIS standard in the specific context of a Swedish e-archive known as R7e-arkiv. Understanding the social in terms of association and focusing on key ANT concepts such as actors, mediators, intermediaries, network and translation the study found that the role played by the OAIS, was that of a silent intermediary until recent developments in the e-archive made it acquire the momentary role of mediator, giving it the capabilities of acting upon the actor-network. The discussion outlines different conceptions of standards through ANT approaches. Among these, the view of the OAIS as a black box and the understanding of compliancy as performativity could serve as interesting starting points for further inquiries concerning the use of standards in digital archiving. / Användandet av standarder har blivit allt vanligare inom digital arkivhantering. En framstående standard är Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Model. Vad det gäller utveckling och användning av sådana standarder har tonvikten, både för yrkesverksamma arkivarier och forskare, legat på standardens tekniska dimension. Effektivitet och kostnadseffektivitet har varit det viktigaste. Lite uppmärksamhet har däremot ägnats åt hur standarder implementerats från ett socialt perspektiv. Denna uppsats har med utgångspunkt i reflexiv metod av Mats Alvesson och Kaj Sköldberg, samt aktör-nätverksteori undersökt vilken roll en teknologisk artefakt som OAIS spelar för det svenska e-arkivet R7e-arkiv. Genom att förstå det sociala i termer av associationer och med hjälp av aktör-nätverksteoretiska begrepp som aktör, medlare, mellanhand, nätverk och översättningar fann undersökningen att OAIS sedan R7e-arkivs grundande har haft rollen av en tyst mellanhand. Senare utvecklingar och förändringar i e-arkivet har dock lett till standarden att uppta rollen av medlare, vilket gett den möjligheten att agera och göra skillnad på aktör-nätverket. Uppsatsens diskussion erbjuder alternativa sätt att förstå standarder utifrån ett ANT-perspektiv. Bland dessa perspektiv framstår två som möjliga utgångspunkter för vidare forskning: OAIS förstått som svart låda samt följsamhet av standarder förstått i termer av performativitet.

Studien undersökte regleringar som vägleder arkivarier Sverige, vilket omfattade intervjuer med åtta olika arkivarier som arbetar för svenska kommuner, regioner och statliga myndigheter. Studiens teoretiska utgångspunkt omfattade Lawrence Lessigs ”pathetic dot theory” med fyra modaliteter (lagar, sociala normer, marknad och arkitektur) som användes vid analysen för att förklara intervjuresultaten. Paralleller drogs mellan tidigare litteratur och resultatet från intervjuerna för att kontextualisera och skapa en bättre förståelse av svaren. Studien visade att det finns annat än lagar och föreskrifter som kan påverka arkivarier vid gallring av allmänna handlingar. Dessa faktorer inkluderade normer och sociala strukturer, samt brist på förståelse för gallringens innebörd och hur det ska utföras. En ytterligare faktor var arkivariens förutsättningar för att använda sin kompetens för att nå ut i verksamheten. / This study examined the regulations that guide archivists in appraisal work in Sweden. The study is centred on interviews with eight different archivists working for swedish municipalities, regions, and public authorities. Lawrence Lessigs’ ”pathetic dot theory” with four modularities (the law, social norms, the market and architecture) were used to in the analysis to explain the interview results. Parallels were drawn between previous literature and the result from the interviews to contextualise and create a better understanding of the responses. The study showed that there are several factors other than laws and regulations that can affect archivists in appraisal work of public records. These factors included norms and social structures. Another factor were a simple lack of understanding on the meaning of appraisal and how it should be performed. Yet another factor were inadequacies in archivists’ work conditions which may hinder them to use their expertise in the workplace.

The new wave of digital information requires archival institutions to develop new methods and e-services to handle the large amounts of digital information that is in their custody. Swedish Archival institutions have in accordance with the Public and Secrecy Act traditionally promoted the preservation and re-use of public information. The thesis investigates how the Swedish municipal archives are dealing with digital provision of their digital holdings to the public. At present, the Swedish Public Sector Information (PSI) directive places additional demands on them to make digital information available. This information is referred to as open data. This means that that they need to use digital tools to be able to do so. The study involved four Swedish municipal archival institutions, employed a qualitative research methodology and uses the case study method to gain a deeper insight of the phenomenon under study. It employed interviews as a data collecting technique. The results showed that to make digital infor-mation available it requires the implementation of an e-archive which consolidates and facilitates the management of information. The study results further showed that the PSI-directive is not fully understood by some of the interviewed archivists and some of the institutions also lack e-archives. In conclusion, the thesis analysis confirmed that the municipal archival institutions found it difficult to make their digital holdings available and to implement the PSI directive. This was due to organizational problems such as weak budgets, lack of high-quality data sources, knowledge and ambiguities in the PSI-directive. This is a two years master’s thesis in Archival Science.