In July the web site ‘kulturnett.no’ was
launched in its new version. Gone are the
sector sites based mainly on the requirements
of museum staff, art specialists,
archivists and librarians. The focus now is
on the end-user with an interest in culture.
Museum specialists have presented Internet
exhibitions. Librarians have talked
about electronic books. Archivists
have made archive material available
on the Internet.We believe, however,
that the end-user is primarily concerned
with access to information and is
not particularly interested in whether
that information comes from an archive,
a library or a museum. This was the
line of thought leading to the establishment
of the Norwegian Archive, Library
and Museum Authority in 2003 as
the Norwegian government’s organisation
for the joint development of these
three sectors. At the same time it was
decided by the Ministry of Church and
Cultural Affairs that the Authority
should assume responsibility for the
Norwegian cultural web site and its
sector links. The task of developing this
new version of the web site started as
soon as the Authority had been established.
The initial launching in July was
very low-key but during spring 2005 a
more ambitious presentation will be
made with the emphasis on content.
The new cultural web site is based on
the international standard for index
cards, Topic Map, which gives substance
to the concept of ‘seamless knowledge’.
This is a new way of making more
efficient use of basic data; a process
more closely resembling the way in
which the human mind works by association.
Topic Map offers exciting possibilities
when different index-card-based
web sites cooperate. Kulturnett.no
sets great store by such alliances with
regional and professional partners. So
far there exist six regional cultural web
sites, but more are in the making. In
the same way close cooperation has
been established between kulturnett.no
and various organisations representing
artists, dancers and writers.
Kulturnett.no covers all aspects of the
library, archive and museum sectors,
while placing the main emphasis on a
wider cultural concept.
Each year kulturnett.no offers funding
for projects. Last year and this, priority
has been given to improving content.
From a cultural point of view the Internet
is more than a technical challenge
of how fast and efficiently one can
travel. Culturally it is first and foremost
a question of where one is heading and
whether or not the journey leads to
something worthwhile, namely highquality
Norwegian content. The new
web site intends to contribute towards
achieving this end.
Translated by Eric Deverill
