Over a million documents in KI’s digital register
With over a million documents in its registers, Karolinska Institutet has levelled up from a storage regime of cardboard boxes to a digital system that is both efficient and legally secure. Thanks to improved workflows, quality assurance and a dedicated unit, it is now simpler and quicker to find, store and protect important documents – a change that is as beneficial to the general public as it is to KI employees and researchers.
Over the past few years, KI has undertaken a radical overhaul of its document registration processes and transitioned from paper-based to digital archives. From having been dispersed over the different departments, document registration was centralised in 2020, improving both quality and efficiency.
Document registration is a vital part of public service, and at Karolinska Institutet it is covered by various laws, including the Freedom of the Press Ordinance, the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act and the Archives Act. KI handles around 40,000 documents every year.
“We’re building a safe, accessible and sustainable information structure for the years to come,” says Lise-Lotte Wallin, registrar and archivist at KI’s Archive and Registry Unit. “We now have a dedicated unit of 14 people who make sure that documents are registered in a correct and uniform manner, and it’s made a huge difference.”
KI has a universal document-management plan that clearly states what is to be registered, stored or deleted/destroyed. The general rule is that documents in the public domain are to be registered, although there are exceptions.
Received or internal documents that do not contain classified information, such as meeting minutes and diplomas, can be kept on file without registration.
“Administrative research documents belong to a special category,” explains registrar Maria Holm. “For example, ethical applications and approvals, research contracts, research grant award notifications and permits are to be registered to ensure transparency and long-term traceability.”
KI passed an interesting milestone last year when the number of documents registered digitally exceeded one million, a clear sign that the registration system has been fully integrated into the routines of the university and is operating as intended.
Staff training and support
“We can tell that the staff are keen to get things right and that our work is having an impact throughout the organisation,” says Holm. “If anyone is the slightest bit unsure as to what to do, we’re here to provide help and support.”
To make sure that the registration process runs as smoothly as possible, KI offers monthly Teams presentations to introduce it to new members of staff. There’s also a Teams channel where you can get answers to your questions and courses in specific areas, such as public document management and HR administration.
Information for future generations
The development of the system generates continual improvements, such as uniform terms/designations and templates that make it easier to locate the right documents.
KI has also introduced a function that tags documents with particular search terms (e.g. “covid”) to simplify future searches. And in order to streamline document management even more, KI has just recently started to implement an e-archive to which registered documents will successively be transferred.
However, despite the digitisation process, there are still many paper-based archives of older documents at KI.
“Even if a complete digitisation of all archives is an attractive prospect, it would be a huge project to undertake. Our focus right now is on developing the e-archive and continuing to improve document accessibility,” says Wallin.
5 tips on document registration
- Apply the principle that it’s better to register too much than too little.
- Attend KI’s open presentations on document registration.
- Queries? Use the dedicated mailboxes or the Teams channel.
- Use KI’s document management plan, which provides excellent guidance.
- Read the information on the Archive and Registry pages here on the Staff Portal.