The Visibility of Recordkeeping Perspectives and Professionals in E-government

This dissertation explores the visibility of recordkeeping perspectives and professionals within the context of Finnish e-government, with a particular focus on both organizational and legislative settings. Records and their management are widely acknowledged—both nationally and internationally—as fundamental components of information governance, especially in promoting transparency and good governance. However, ongoing technological innovations continuously introduce new opportunities and challenges for e-government, often accompanied by emerging concepts that obscure the broader landscape and render records management seemingly outdated or redundant. In an era characterized by disinformation, cyberattacks, data breaches, and geopolitical instability, the role of recordkeeping professionals remains vital in ensuring that records are managed ethically and in accordance with legal and regulatory requirements.

The research problem addressed in this study stems from the interplay between prevailing attitudes toward recordkeeping, the demands placed upon it, and its persistent invisibility—conceptualized here as a collision of information and governance cultures. Within this conceptual conflict, recordkeeping professionals must continuously negotiate their relevance, visibility, and legitimacy while striving to meet evolving institutional expectations.

This study responds to the limited scholarly attention given to records management by introducing a novel information-governance-cultural framework. While previous research has primarily approached recordkeeping from cultural-historical perspectives, such approaches alone are insufficient to address the contemporary challenges of information governance in public administration. Moreover, theoretical discussions in archival science often remain confined within archival institutions and professional communities, limiting their applicability to broader administrative and policy contexts.

The dissertation comprises four interrelated sub-studies. Sub-study I examines the relationship between the principles of freedom of information (FOI) and privacy protection, and how these are communicated on municipal websites. Sub-study II investigates the work of records management professionals and their visibility and perceived value within municipal organizations. Sub-study III analyzes the extent to which recordkeeping perspectives are considered in legislative drafting processes. Sub-study IV explores the relationship between recordkeeping concepts and modalities of obligation in legal texts governing records and information management (RIM) and further examines the use and semantic variation of key English-language recordkeeping terms in legislation.

The four sub-studies collectively demonstrate the multifaceted invisibility of recordkeeping perspectives and professionals in the context of e-government. Substudy I reveals that recordkeeping-related principles, such as freedom of information and privacy, are not clearly communicated to citizens via municipal websites, rendering these perspectives externally invisible. Sub-study II shows that within municipal organizations, records management professionals remain largely unrecognized, particularly when analyzed through the lens of invisible work. Substudy III highlights how structural and professional dynamics in legislative drafting processes contribute to the marginalization of recordkeeping perspectives, with implications for participatory governance and retrospective accountability. Substudy IV demonstrates that the weak connection between deontic expressions and recordkeeping concepts in legal texts further obscures the visibility of records management, emphasizing the importance of precise conceptual articulation for the effective implementation of legal obligations.

When analyzed through the Information and Governance Cultures (IGCs) framework, the study identifies several contributing factors to this invisibility, including power asymmetries, professional hierarchies, procedural inconsistencies, structural inefficiencies, terminological ambiguity, and communication challenges. Addressing these hidden barriers is essential for resolving current RIM-related challenges in e-government and for fostering more inclusive and effective interdisciplinary collaboration and the development of new conceptual methodologies.