Offentliga arkiv och barns rättigheter : Svenska arkivinstitutioners syn på barnkonventionen, tillgänglighet och delaktighet

Sammanfattning: The study examines the perception of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, children's participation and the accessibility for children, within public archival institutions. The notion of participation is linked to the Convention’s Article 12: respect for the views of the child, whilst accessibility is associated with Article 31: the right to leisure, play and culture. Furthermore, the study explores the preconditions for children’s participation in accordance with Harry Shier's model Pathways to participation.  The method used are web-based surveys. A total of 318 Swedish public archival institutions were invited to participate in two online questionnaires which generated 187 and 153 responses respectively. The study shows that 78 percent of the respondents know that the Convention on the Rights of the Child is Swedish law and 90 percent are aware of the obligation to impose it. Nevertheless, only 43 percent believe that their own institution takes the Convention into account. The respondents report a lack of resources and competence as the main obstacles.  About 65 percent of the respondents state that their institution welcome children and young people as visitors. 85 percent believe that it is important that Swedish archive institutions and archives are accessible, but only 27 percent feel that their own institution is in fact accessible to children and young people. Many respondents cite a lack of resources as the main reason. The part of the survey that is based on Harry Shier's participation model shows that the preconditions for children's participation in the activities of the public archives are low. But it is also clear that the respondents' personal inclinations for children's participation exceeds the preconditions and requirements of the institution. The major obstacles to children's participation thus seem to exist at a structural level.