E-archive create more efficient opportunities for operations through process-oriented archival reporting that provides better overview of documents and a better support for case management and increases security for compliance. E-archive are also a prerequisite for achieving the municipalities goals for future e-government and a fully digital flow of information. The purpose of the essay is to investigate why some municipalities have started using electronic archiving while others are still using paper archives. The study also aims to examine the requirements for safety, accessibility, and costs for introducing electronic archives into municipal activities.

Previous research in this field has mainly focused on areas that I believe together form the basis of my research area, namely digitalization, security, accessibility, information management, and e-government and digital archives (e-archives). Then presented OAIS model used as theory in this essay.

To reach the aim of the study primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews. For this essay, there have been interviews with eight different municipalities, four of which use e-archiving and four using paper archives. The study is also based on secondary data in the form of articles and dissertations for previous studies on e-archives.

The result that I got showed that digital archives are evolving very quickly. At the same time e-archives create great benefits such as being able to respond to the digital needs of the activities, follow the digital development that takes place in the public sector. The introduction of e-archives needed sufficient financial and human resources to carry out all the necessary activities.