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| Issue 3 Home | Editorial | Features | Regular Columns | News & Events | Misc. | ||
By Sidsel Hindal and Tone Moseid - January 2001
Netting Local
History [1] is an initiative that follows
up the request from the Norwegian government for a closer
collaboration between archives, libraries and museums (ALM). This
network-project, which is initiated and organised by the
Norwegian Directorate for Public Libraries, covers seven local
projects with different aims and activities.
Its main objectives are to develop collaboration in the sector of museums, libraries and archives and try out network organisation in the development of public libraries in order to improve the public's access to records on local history by utilising the digital technologies.
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The Norwegian Directorate for Public Libraries [2] is a directorate subordinate to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs [3], with special responsibility for matters relating to public libraries. As laid out in the Public Library Act [4], the Directorate should act as a co-ordinating and initiating body, working for development and promotion of public libraries by offering professional advice and consultancy services. In addition the directorate is a consultant and advisory body to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.
In Norway as in several other European countries the government has requested closer collaboration between archives, libraries and museums (ALM). The Ministry of Cultural Affairs presented this view in a white paper St. meld. 22 1999-2000. Kjelder til kunnskap og oppleving December 1999 [5]. "Om arkiv, bibliotek og museum i ei IKT-tid og om bygningsmessige rammevilkår på kulturområdet. (Sources to knowledge and adventure. Archive, library and museum in a society based on information-technology)". An important principle in the report is easy access to recorded heritage and collections of items for the public. The report was recently treated by the Parliament in December 2000 and received massive political support.
The Norwegian Directorate for Public Libraries felt called upon to do something regarding ALM and in August 1999 the Netting Local History project was initiated.
According to regulations (recommended guidelines for the county and public libraries) both institutions are instructed to make studies of local history available [6]. The county libraries are obliged to have a local collection, which geographically covers the county. This means that many Norwegian public libraries have recorded material, for example collections of local newspapers, photos, letters, church records and local censuses.
The Norwegian Directorate for Public Libraries found the local history area one suitable for collaboration between the public libraries, museums and archives. A common situation, independent of the size of the local community, is that valuable material is spread among several institutions and private persons. Often one is not aware of what material exists. The public's interest in this area was another reason for selecting local history. The dual aspect of local history , its character of being both a branch of research and a movement with considerable popular support, gives local history an extraordinarily strong position in Norway [7]. Every year the municipalities spend 6-8 million Euro on fees for the authors of "bygdebooks" (community books). In addition there is a considerable, yearly production of publications about local history associations, museums, sports clubs, banks, power stations, industry and other local enterprises.
When this project started up there were several ongoing projects, their main contribution was to work on parts of the development that the Netting Local History project is on the threshold of. By organising seven local projects in a network-project The Norwegian Directorate of Public Libraries aims to develop and illustrate the public libraries` presentation of local history. The idea is that projects that involve different ALM institutions may generate some new solutions for public libraries.
The public libraries in Austevoll, Fusa, Porsgrunn, Sogndal, Stavanger and Ål and the Library of Telemark (Telemarksbiblioteket) are all participating in the national project. The local projects have slightly different objectives, subjects and organisation, but they all aim to utilise Internet in their presentations of local history. One of the selection criteria was that the libraries should have one or more partners among the archives, museums and`/or educational institutions.
Below is a handful of the local projects:
Sogndal public library [8] is collaborating with The Heiberg Collections [9] and the County Archives of Sogn og Fjordane [10]. Since June 2000 the three institutions have provided a reference service which allows the public to request local history from the county of Sogn og Fjordane. The service is called Lokalhistorisk spørjevev [11], which means "Ask the Web about local history". Archivists, historians and librarians in the three institutions are working together on answering and suggesting appropriate resources.
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| Sogndal, Sogn og Fjordane County,
around 1900 A ox owned by a farmer from the district - used for transporting goods and for the work at the farm. The photo belongs to the collection of the County Archives of Sogn og Fjordane (SFFf-88010.0475) |
Both the questions and the answers given are available on the Internet and it is possible to search for the material by subject. In this way the information will be available to the broader community, not to just the person who made the request. The overall scope is to develop an improved reference service for the public on local history.
Another part of the project is to establish library services for the museum and the county archives. The local catalogue aims to cover the collections of books and serials in the museum, county archives and the public library, and will in addition report to the national union catalogue. One of the tasks, indexing local serials in a database, is carried out in co-operation with the county library of Sogn og Fjordane. This database is called Fjognedok [12]. The National Library of Norway [13] also has an interest in Fjognedok, which they consider to be a pilot project. In the future The National Library wants the county libraries to be responsible for cataloguing articles from local serials and serving the National catalogue, "NORART".
At Telemark Library [14], Telemark data on the Internet, now a finished project, offers searchable databases of local historical material from the county of Telemark. By including this project the experience achieved has been transmitted to the other local projects.
Porsgrunn public library [15] in Telemark has developed a Web site giving access to digitised urban history, consisting of both digitised local books, photos and a unique collection of archive material from the period 1940-1945. The material is to some extent cross-linked, giving the possibility of 'jumping to photos of a building directly from the text-based description of the same building in the digitised "bygdebook"'. Along with the library's own catalogue on local history this gives a "one stop shop" resource to available material on this topic.
Austevoll public library [16] in Hordaland and the municipality of Austevoll are working on a Web site on local history from Austevoll. Inter-municipal archives in Hordaland and Regional Archives of Bergen [17] are contributing by providing local material from Austevoll from their archives. They can also find specific persons, stories and subjects by "deepdiving" into the material. On the Web site the material is organised into 9 subjects and 6 periods of time, from prehistoric time to today. The user of the Web site will be able to choose whether he wishes to approach the material by choosing a specific subject or a period of time.
Austevoll
public library is responsible for publishing and transmitting
knowledge about the material. In collaboration with Mediasenteret
in Bergen, the structure and the design on the Web is made as
simple and easy to use as possible. Pupils in elementary school
are the main target group. In order to make the material further
available for children and youths, efforts have been made to
personalise it. The results of the "deepdivings" in the archives
make it possible to use the story of one particular person to
illustrate a period of time or a historical phenomenon. In
addition to the processed material on the Web site, they are
developing a database on which the public may search directly
into the original documents.
Fusa public library [18] is publishing material from the "bygdebook" on the Internet in a project that runs parallel to the editing of the new "bygdebook". The digital version aims to be more than just a Web-copy of the hard copy. These two "editions" will in many ways complement each other. During the editing process the public may contribute, via the Web, with information and comments.
The educational project at Stavanger Public Library [19], based on local history and research, emphasises the participating of pupils rather than presenting information on the Web. The starting point was Stavanger Public Library's extensive collection of books and publications on the local history of Stavanger and the surrounding district, Rogaland, and the library's long experience of handing on this knowledge to schoolchildren, to a great extent by traditional methods. When the Norwegian Petroleum Museum [20] opened in 1999, Stavanger public library presented the idea of a joint educational project based on local history and research. The project has two aspects: General information about the library and in-depth studies based on the local history section.
Ål Public Library [21] in Buskerud is running a local project called The Home Town - a reflection of Norway and the world. The main objectives are:
By presenting the history of Ål which combines knowledge, adventure and active participation, the library want to inspire the pupils' to learn. The result of the collaboration between the local school, the public library and the local heritage museum will be an interactive presentation on the Internet of texts, photos and videos launched in autumn 2001.
Historical themes have been selected with the intention of encouraging collaboration between several local institutions and fulfilling the intentions of the National Curriculum Guidelines for the 10-year compulsory school (L97). These Guidelines underline the importance of the local community and the creation of identity – "by working with the past the pupils will create identity". At the next stage the knowledge about their local society will help them to understand, compare and respect, more complex societies and other cultures.
As mentioned in the introduction the main objectives are:
In addition we have a list of subordinated objectives:
In Norway most of the public libraries are small-scale institutions with an average of 1.8 people power per year per institution. By initiating a network-project we thought it would be feasible for small libraries to participate, and hopefully the project would be more visible, both for the public and the people working in the ALM and educational sector.
The Norwegian Directorate for Public Libraries' role is to work as co-ordinator and consultant. The local co-ordinators and the authors are organised as a working group, which meets two or three times per year. The seminars take place in the different local communities with participation from the local partners in the project we visit.
Among the issues which are raised at the seminars are common problem areas, such as copyright, presentations, co-operation and technical solutions. Experts on the different topics are used as speakers, and in some cases the local co-ordinators are asked to prepare written contributions to the seminars. By having this time to share experiences and discuss different ideas, problems and solutions these seminars have so far fulfilled the intention of being a source of inspiration.
As described in the article the local projects have different profiles and target groups. This was partly part of the selection criteria, presenting different ways of approaching local history and the new technologies.
For several of the projects, children and youths are the main target group due to the importance of local community and tradition in the National Curriculum Guidelines for the 10-year compulsory school (L97).
In this project we want to underline that local history is not
only of importance for the population in a particular region but
has a much broader meaning. A view reflected in the National
Curriculum Guidelines and in the title of Ål's project
The Home Town - a reflection of Norway and the
world.
None of the seven projects are of interest only to the local population. For example Porsgrunn, with its unique collection of material from the Second World War, makes a small contribution to the enormous and complex description of this important period of history.
If we jump, both in time and place, to Stavanger on the western coast and our near past, the pupils who take part in the project at the public library and the Petroleum Museum are able to learn about the Petroleum Industry in the North Sea. An industry which only dates back to the end of the nineteen sixties. This recent part of Stavanger's history is at the same time both national and international history.
By exploiting the opportunities created by the advent of digital technologies the ALM institutions can give wide public access to a huge and valuable cultural heritage.
Netting Local History is only a minor contributor, and one the challenges for such a small country as Norway is the language. If we want a larger public than just the Scandinavian countries we need to translate the actual resources or at least the descriptions of them, a time and labour consuming task. So far, we have started by putting descriptions of the projects on our Web site.
More than halfway into the project period we are beginning to see some results. There is an increased level of local interest and commitment. Stavanger, Ål, Porsgrunn and Sogndal have all experienced interest from the public, other institutions and the media. Stavanger plans to extend their project by including Stavanger Maritime Museum [22] and in Sogndal the National Library have also taken an interest. With regard to interest from politicians these projects have all gained a positive reputation, particularly in Austevoll. The politicians in this small and economically poor municipality outside Bergen have expressed a strong and binding interest by saying that culture is an area of priority and the project Local History from Austevoll will be carried on.
At national level we have established collaboration with The Norwegian Institute of Local History [23] and have disseminated information about the project to several cultural institutions and organisation. There is now awareness about Netting Local History in the ALM sector. As an end product we are planning a final seminar at the end of 2001 with participants from the ALM and educational sector and a compendium with articles on different issues related to the project.
The main challenge is to ensure some kind of continuation of Netting Local History after 2001. A national portal to the resources of local history in Norway is one idea. Hopefully we have an answer to this question by the end of this year.
If you have any comments about Netting Local History please send them to Sidsel Hindal [24].
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Tone Moseid
Norwegian Directorate for Public Libraries
P.O.B. 8145, Dep, N - 0033 Oslo, Norway
Phone: +47 21 02 17 28 (00)
Fax: + 47 21 02 17 01
tone.moseid@bibtils.no
URL: <http://www.bibtils.no/>
Sidsel Hindal
Norwegian Directorate for Public Libraries
P.O.B. 8145, Dep, N - 0033 Oslo, Norway
Phone: + 47 21 02 17 26 (00)
Fax: + 47 21 02 17 01
sidsel.hindal@bibtils.no
URL: <http://www.bibtils.no/>
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For citation purposes:
Hindal, S. and Moseid, T. "Netting Local History in Norway - An ALM Project", Cultivate Interactive, issue
3, 29 January 2001
URL: <http://www.cultivate-int.org/issue3/history/>
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