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Archival dossiers and the archive

A meeting's records belong together in the archive. decidiq bundles them into one archival dossier: the approved minutes, the decisions, the voting rounds and the documents. OpenRegister keeps the retention rules, the e-depot transfer and the destruction. decidiq hands the dossier over and shows what happened.

Form and close a dossier​

The chair or secretary of a meeting forms its dossier. decidiq gathers the meeting's records by reference. While the dossier is forming, gather again to pick up records added later.

Close the dossier when it is complete. decidiq refuses to close when the minutes are missing or not approved, or when the meeting is not closed. Give a reason to close it anyway; the reason is kept on the dossier. A closed dossier is frozen: nobody adds or removes records after that.

When the register keeps TMLO metadata, closing also marks the dossier semi-static (semi_statisch) in OpenRegister.

Where a dossier goes​

Each dossier follows its Selectielijst category, set once in the register. The Archive route panel on the dossier page shows the category and the route:

  • Kept categories go to the archive. decidiq puts the dossier's records on an OpenRegister transfer list. An archivist approves the list in OpenRegister, and OpenRegister packages and delivers it to the e-depot.
  • Destroy categories go to destruction. decidiq asks OpenRegister for a destruction list. OpenRegister checks each record's retention period and legal holds, and names every record it leaves off, with the reason.

Without an e-depot connection the panel says automated transfer is unavailable. It links to the OpenRegister settings, and the dossier stays closed.

Only an archivist (the archivaris group) or an administrator hands a dossier over. These are the same people OpenRegister lets approve the lists.

Transferred and destroyed​

Use Check OpenRegister's outcome on the dossier page. When OpenRegister has delivered the transfer, the dossier becomes transferred. When OpenRegister has carried out the destruction list, the dossier becomes destroyed.

After a destruction, File the destruction certificate fetches OpenRegister's verklaring van vernietiging. decidiq files a copy in the meeting's Archive folder: a PDF when filinq is installed, markdown otherwise. The copy lists every field OpenRegister wrote and the records it skipped. The dossier keeps a reference to the copy, and the dossier itself is never destroyed.

Security classification​

Minutes, decisions, meetings, documents and dossiers carry a security classification: openbaar, intern, vertrouwelijk or geheim. These four follow OpenRegister's confidentiality levels in the same order.

  • A record classified above openbaar is never published.
  • A dossier less confidential than one of its records shows a classification warning. The warning names that record. Raise the dossier's classification to clear it.

The archive dashboard​

Registers > Archive counts the dossiers that are forming, closed, waiting for transfer, on a destruction list, transferred and destroyed. Each count opens the matching list. Archivists get a weekly reminder for every dossier that waits for transfer.

Two counts are not on the dashboard yet: overdue transfers and closed meetings without a dossier. They need date filters that OpenRegister's counts do not take yet. A meeting's page shows how many dossiers it has; zero on a closed meeting is an archiving gap.