Scandinavian Values : A Comparative Study of the Digitalization in National Archives

Digitalization is one of the biggest ongoing changes for archival institutions today. The national archives in a country usually have a consultative role in the archival profession, and have the responsibility to digitize the cultural heritage for the state. Yet the values associated with a digital cultural heritage in archival institutions are largely understudied, and there have been no comparative studies on the subject. This study examines and compares the values of the digital cultural heritage in national archives in Scandinavia, as well as the approaches and methods to digitalize their services and collections. The theory in this study is value theory and value relativism as described by Lars Bergström, and a value chart of the cultural heritage developed by Svante Beckman. The method is a comparative study of the governing documents concerning digitalization in the national archives, as well as annual reports from a four-year period. The national archives that were examined are Rigsarkivet in Denmark, Arkivverket in Norway, and Riksarkivet in Sweden. The empirical material was examined with thematical analysis. This study finds that the Scandinavian national archives share many of the same values associated with the digital cultural heritage, and how the digitalization is achieved. All of the institutions have a strong focus on the user needs of the visitors of the archives, as well as researchers and public officials. The values with a digital cultural heritage are first and foremost democracy, accessibility and increasing possibilities to reach new visitors and audiences. All of the archival institutions speak of the digital cultural heritage as data to be used and reused by the public, researchers and potentially the business sector. There are differences in how far user platforms are developed, and how risk preparedness is mentioned and valued in the documents. This is a two years master’s thesis in Archival Science.