5 Norwegian National Policies for Digitalization in the LAM Sector – Imperative and Implementation

Abstract

In a press release in October 2019, the Ministry of Culture stated that the National Budget for 2020 represented a historic commitment to the National Archives, and more specifically to the start-up of the development of national joint solutions for preservation and dissemination of digital archives (Ministry of Culture 2019). Similar objectives were identified in a white paper from 1999 about the LAM institutions in a digital age (Ministry of Culture 1999). Why is the development of solutions still in a start-up phase, 20 years later? Digitalization in the LAM sector has been regarded as a prerequisite for enhancing the public-sphere infrastructure and strengthening the roles and functions of LAM institutions, and it has been an imperative for decades. But digitalization as imperative has some difficult aspects, such as the tendency to sacralization (Henningsen and Larsen, this volume) and other factors that make the concept unclear when it comes to implementation (Blomgren, this volume). What shall be implemented, how, by whom, and at which costs? The concept of digitalizationmay includemanydifferent aspects, such as digital access to collections, the use of social media, strengthening of digital skills among the inhabitants, and increased user contribution. This is a study of the implementation of two aspects of digitalization in the LAM sector in Norway: digitization of analogue material and long-term preservation of born-digital materials. The aim is to deepen the understanding of the national policies in this field. These policies may not be fully formulated in white papers and other policy documents; they should also be regarded in light of the implementation policy and the steps that may or may not be taken in order to realize the objectives expressed at a more abstract level. The study may also contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms of governing the LAM sector in general. The scope of this study is LAM institutions for which the Ministry of Culture has state responsibility that are regarded as central for achieving the digitalization imperative. This includes the National Library for the library sector and the National Archives for the archives sector. For the museum sector, the Arts Council