Authenticity of digital records: Analysis of a leave of absence process

Abstract

Objective. It presents an analysis of the issues surrounding the authenticity of presumption of a born digital record, using the leave absence process produced at the Federal University of Santa Maria as a case study. Method. The research was based on the InterPARES Project methodology. The contexts analyzed were legal and administrative, provenance, procedures, documentation and technology, considering a resolution that approves the Guidelines for the Presumption of Archival Digital Document Authenticity. Results. The case analyzed it is a computerized system used in the leave of absence process of teachers and technical and administrative staff in education. More than seventeen thousand documents have produced exclusively in digital media since the system came into operation in late 2012. Conclusions. The computerization contributed to the active transparency and reduced the time processing of the process, but the lack of compliance with some archival management requirements that falls on the digital born documents can generate uncertainty about the process authenticity, as well as the risk of losing part of long-term university's memory.