Storage and transfer

Especially for digital materials, it is important to be aware of the management requirements before the information is created.

Read more about digital preservation

What do archive documents need protection from?

Archive documents are often unique. It is therefore important to manage them in a way that prevents them from being destroyed or lost. The Swedish Archives Act states that our archives are to be stored in a manner that protects them against “destruction, damage, theft and unauthorised access”.

Analogue archive security is threatened primarily by four things:

• fire,
• humidity,
• pests,
• people (from negligence to outright theft).

Digital materials, in addition, are subject to the following threats:

• operator error,
• computer failure,
• limited lifetime of storage media (CDs, DVDs, tapes, USBs),
• outdated software.

When storing archive documents you must consider all these aspects. Storing documents in a fireproof facility is, for instance, not sufficient if that facility is unlocked.

How shall archive documents be stored?

Physical material

Analogue archives should primarily be stored in a separate room which complies with the National Archives’ security requirements. Lund University, however, has a very limited number of rooms that meet these high demands. A good option for storage of small amounts of documents is to place them in locked fireproof file cabinets, but the safest thing, in the long term, would be to transfer the material to the University Archives at Arkivcentrum Syd (South Archive Centre).

There are also special requirements regarding office supplies and packaging materials to ensure good and efficient long term storage. Paper, writing materials, etc. shall meet the Svenskt Arkiv standards, as shall the boxes in which paper documents are usually placed before final archiving. The University’s existing framework agreements for office supplies will generally ensure that the right kinds of material are purchased. If you are uncertain – please contact the University Archives.

When archiving, you should also remember to remove anything that may damage the documents, for example, rust and shedding (paper clips or other metal, plastic sleeves, coloured folders, etc.).

Digital material

Read more about digital preservation

What are the requirements for archive materials before they are transferred to the University Archives?

Documents that are transferred to the University Archives from the various University archive holders are required to be:

• free from irrelevant and disposable material, duplicate documents, etc.,
• free from paper clips, plastic sleeves, binders (forks) and other harmful and unnecessary bulky non-paper materials,
• placed in approved archive boxes (if you are using archive boxes in brown/grey cardboard,  you must first place the documents in a protective file folder),
• marked (pencil on boxes) with clear information in plain text on the origin of the material, what they are and when they are from,
• arranged in a good and logical order based on the University’s records management plan.

When transferring large amounts of materials or new types of documents, you should also include a list specifying the content of the transfer. Another option is that the archive holder appoints someone to do the work and before transfer organise the details and list the contents.

If the archive contains types of materials other than plain paper documents, such as audio and image recordings, or odd or bulky documents, we recommend that you contact the University Archives to discuss specific solutions. The same applies to digital materials.

Does it cost to store material at the University Archives?

No, storing with us is free as is the service we provide extracting documents from the archives on request. The only thing the transferring archive holder will pay for is the transport to our facilities – and of course, the cost of labour when preparing the material in accordance with the requirements stated above.

What material will not be accepted by the University Archives? Where can it be transferred to instead?

The University Archives’ task is primarily to take care of the documents that are to be preserved forever. Therefore, only in exceptional circumstances will we accept materials that have yet to be disposed of. We are not able to serve as a “storage facility” for large amounts of duplicate documents, or to accept pure library materials (an archive copy of all publications produced by the University shall, however, be submitted to us).

Individual employees may sometimes leave behind documents that border on official records and private archives. For personal archives of a mainly private nature, you should first contact the Manuscripts and Special Collections section at the University Library.

The University Library website, Manuscripts and Special Collections (in Swedish)

Archive holders at the Faculty of Medicine might also have documents that belong to public healthcare rather than to the University. In such cases the documents are to be archived at the Regional Archives at Region Skåne.

The Regional Archives at Region Skåne (in Swedish)

How should materials be transferred to the University Archives?

In most cases, you can use the University’s internal mail for transporting archive materials to the University Archives at Arkivcentrum Syd (internal mailing code: 62).

You might need to hire an external moving company for very extensive transfers (the current framework agreement for such services shall be applied). The transport is paid for by the transferring archive holder.

Never schedule a transfer without first having contacted and received approval from the University Archives.

The University’s internal mail