Johanna Berg describes an initiative to share archived Swedish cultural heritage with the public in order to not only make it highly accessible, but also infuse it with new meaning

Could you begin by outlining Digisam’s role, and the main objectives of the DISKA project?

Digisam is the Swedish secretariat for coordination of digitisation, digital preservation and digital access to cultural heritage, in line with Sweden’s National Digital Strategy between 2011 and 2015.

The primary task for the secretariat is to support 24 national agencies with guidance and cooperation, but there is also a hope that many of the results will be scalable and thus of value to an even broader group of institutions and organisations within the field.

DISKA means ‘wash’ but is also – and more importantly – the Swedish acronym for Digital Semantic Cultural Heritage Authorities. The main objective of the DISKA project is to process a selection of authority files from the 24 national agencies and make them available on the web as linked/linkable open data (LOD).

What progress have you made thus far?

We informed the agencies about our plans and subsequently surveyed the authority files to

find relevant types of datasets within them. We have run working meetings with an expert panel to discuss priorities, and are now in the process of researching the technicalities of dealing with the chosen datasets more thoroughly. Simultaneously, we are looking into the possibility of turning some analogue records into digital datasets during the project.

When making information available digitally, what factors must be taken into account to ensure maximum accessibility?

As DISKA is focusing on metadata exclusively, the guiding principles we use are provided by the World Wide Web Consortium. The vision is for the data to be freely available on the web, with an open licence; machine-readable, in a non-proprietary format; compliant with Resource Description Framework (RDF) standards; and linked.

Can technology aid long-term preservation of cultural heritage?

Technology can support preservation processes by providing tools and services for storage and preservation, for monitoring and for keeping records of work done, etc. Making digital representations available to the public may also be a means of protecting analogue originals from the wear and tear of physical access. As to the preservation of digital files, there is obviously no way around it: huge efforts will be needed to find the most effective and efficient way to solve this, and it is Digisam’s task to propose solutions to the Swedish Government by 2014.

Do you consider it important that different organisations work together in projects such as this?

Collaboration is absolutely crucial to success. In the DISKA project, we have joined forces with the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and without their skilled staff and PhD students we would have had no chance of achieving our aims.

The DISKA expert panel, with experienced colleagues from some of our more groundbreaking agencies, brings valuable perspectives for decision making and also helps strengthen the credibility of the project within the heritage sector. More of a supporting background/context to the ideas of the project can be found in the Digisam networks at Scandinavian and also European levels, including the EC Member States Expert Group on Digitisation and Digital Preservation.

Will this change how the public interacts with cultural heritage information?

We most definitely think so. With historical records of all kinds, at hand everywhere and all the time, we strive to make them more relevant, with a growing recontextualisation of information that has, until now, been scattered between institutions and nations, extracted from its original background and, in some cases, somehow made devoid of meaning.

In the digital world, we can put the pieces together again and see something closer to the big picture. Another advantage of the new digital paradigm is the ease with which one can use and reuse data objects, putting them continuously into new stories, connections and scenarios without ever deleting the original.

What do you see as the future for open access data?

The future is open: the open data concept is in line with other promising trends towards openness in information, learning, publishing and culture as a whole. Giving free access to data also provides raw material to the field of innovation and so aids sustainable growth and benefits society. Publicly funded institutions – such as public archives, museums and libraries – should not hesitate in taking the lead here; they’ve got nothing to lose, but a world of openness to gain!

Modern history

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DISKA

Recontextualising cultural heritageAn ambitious heritage project – DISKA – seeks to make cultural heritage metadata sets freely available over the internet to promulgate interest in and understanding of Sweden’s rich cultural past

From top left: A Sven Hedin, 1927 (LOC);B Sven Hedin (Nordiska museet); C Harriet Bosse; 1907 D Siri von Essen; ca 1880 E Alfred Nobel; ca 1890 (SI) F August, Karin and Greta Strindberg, 1886 (National Library of Sweden); G Andree’s Station at Spitzbergen, 1896 (LOC).

IN THE 17TH CENTURY, Sweden was a major European power. Although its role is somewhat diminished today, its contributions to many fields have remained strong. Swedish luminaries include Alfred Nobel, Greta Garbo, August Strindberg, Ingrid Bergman, Björn Borg, Ingmar Bergman, ABBA and the Cardigans, and then there are the internationally successful crime novels from authors such as Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell.

However, some eminent Swedes have been lost in the public consciousness. For example, Sir Sven Hedin (1865-1952), the once-legendary Swedish explorer, is now largely forgotten. Hedin was knighted by the British in recognition of his groundbreaking and highly intrepid scientific explorations of ancient sites and for charting Central Asia, especially the region of the southern Silk Route, sometimes disguising himself as a Buddhist pilgrim. His body of work was extraordinary, being published in German, Chinese, Japanese and even Yiddish. However, by espousing the cause of the Germans in both world wars, he fell into disfavour.

FIND OUT MORE

For anyone interested in finding out more about his achievements and connections, the task is currently difficult: records relating to

Hedin are held in archive repositories scattered across various organisations and institutions in Sweden and abroad; and the same applies to the many other notable people and events within Sweden’s rich cultural heritage.

The Digital Semantic Cultural Heritage Authority Records (DISKA) project aims to turn this situation around by making information in disparate repositories accessible to all via the internet. The research is led by Johanna Berg, a senior advisor at the Digisam organisation which is charged with improving the information flows between 24 heritage agencies into standardised, interoperable and integrated machine-readable sets: “DISKA will create reference posts – such as biographical entries on prominent Swedes – available for further linking in the emerging global ecosystem of semantically contextualised data/information,” she explains. “This will make it a lot easier to connect records, images and objects together in a meaningful and reliable way, and thus facilitate a deeper understanding of the past.”

REBUILDING HISTORY

DISKA’s primary aim is to facilitate the reconstruction of the context within which historical figures lived and so make it easier to establish the connections between them and

their deeds. Of particular interest are resources such as the Swedish Biographical Dictionary as the figures presented there are likely to have connections to other registers within the memory institutions.

As an example of the kinds of links between historical figures that the project will make plain, the Finnish-Swedish actress Siri von Essen and the Norwegian-Swedish actress Harriet Bosse both had links to the author August Strindberg, who despised the explorer Hedin, regarding him as an enemy; Hedin was associated with the family of Alfred Nobel in Azerbaijan, where he worked as a tutor; in turn, the photographer Nils Strindberg was August Strindberg’s cousin, and died during an ill-fated expedition to the North Pole by balloon with the over-optimistic explorer S A Andrée.

DATA LINKS

The approach adopted is to collect the metadata by extracting them from old school files or digitised records of cultural heritage institutions, upgrade their digital format and make it easier to establish machine-readable links between items. Qualified personnel from the institutions will then be able to add further metadata and assign general reference attributes to them, thus ensuring

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DISKA’s primary aim is to

reconstruct the context

within which historical figures

lived and so make it easier

to establish the connections

between them and their deeds

their integrity. The data model for DISKA is derived from the World Wide Web Consortium Resource Description Framework (RDF), which will confer a high degree of certainty and efficiency to the exchange and use of distributed machine-readable metadata. The ultimate intention is that the results of the project will be scalable and applicable to the whole field of cultural heritage.

DISKA is part of a long-term cooperative agreement between Digisam and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden’s primary technical university. KTH has a long and significant record of involvement and cooperation with various heritage bodies in Sweden and is working in parallel on other projects based on the concept of open linked data, for such applications as technology-enhanced learning through the use of digital cultural heritage information in teaching at schools and universities, and extending technology for education, such as developing a platform for personalised learning environments.

OPENING UP INFORMATION ACROSS EUROPE

The move towards open data has spread across Europe recently. Important steps have been taken by projects such as the Dutch Open Cultuur Data. In addition, several European projects featuring linked open data are currently underway; for example, the Swedish National Archives participates in the Linked Heritage European Union project, which is applying RDF data linking and open data publishing in conjunction with such organisations as Europeana and The European Library. Also highlighting the increasing role of open data in European and worldwide society, in April 2013 Digisam, with support from the Nordic Council of Ministers, organised a joint Nordic conference on open data – Open Cultural Heritage Data in the Nordic Countries (http://digisam.se/index.php/film).

The DISKA project is organised into three interlinked streams of work: establishment of an infrastructure for open semantic information resources; development of semantic technology and tools; and R&D of methodology, tools and processes for technology-enhanced learning. Because the data within the scope of the project are exclusively metadata, they are not expected to be confidential or in need of any special licence; if copyright is retained, it is expected that the resource will be made available under

the terms of a Creative Commons zero licence – a complete waiver, flagging ‘no rights reserved’.

In the short term, there is a barrier to progress in that the institutions involved have little incentive to make economic resources available for opening up their data, especially as the benefits will broadly accrue to people and organisations outside of their domain. There is a concern that loss of control over the information, and loss of expertise will consequently follow. In addition, most institutions currently lack the technical staff and hardware resources required: “We cannot solve this, but might be able to show what could be achieved if these deficiencies were managed,” reflects Berg.

While the benefits of the project may not be immediately self-evident, once Sweden’s cultural heritage is in the public domain and freely accessible, Berg is confident that new uses and applications will emerge – she sees the service as key for paving the way to creativity, innovation and growth: “With funding being scarce, most institutions are unwilling to put effort into anything but essentials – that makes our role important in making it happen, and thus showing our colleagues in museums, libraries and archives the concrete impact and potential of the new mindset,” she states.

Significant work had earlier been conducted by pioneering institutions in Sweden, such as the National Heritage Board, National Library and Livrustkammaren (the Royal Armoury). From this base, the DISKA survey resulted in a total of 122 datasets, whereof about 10 were chosen by an expert panel for further processing. “Valuable experiences have been gathered,” muses Berg. Through the continuation of DISKA, the Swedish people can rest easy in the knowledge that their cultural icons will remain just that.

DISKA

OBJECTIVES

To transform the metadata from the Swedish cultural heritage sector from outdated registers, file cabinets and similar to code and, by making this linked/linkable open data code available on the web, make it easier to find the connections between historical figures, thus rebuilding their context.

KEY COLLABORATORS

Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) • Helena Lundin, Digisam/National Archives • Professor Ambjörn Naeve; Fredrik Enoksson; Erik Isaksson, KTH

Expert panel:

Karin Nilsson, Livrustkammaren (Royal Armoury) • Henrik Summanen, National Heritage Board • Miriam Säfström; Martin Malmsten; Niklas Lindström, National Library • Mårten Johansson, National Archives

FUNDING

VINNOVA – Sweden´s Innovation Agency

CONTACT

Johanna Berg Project coordinator

National Archives Fyrverkarbacken 13 PO Box 12541 102 29 Stockholm Sweden

T +46 10 476 72 37 E johanna.berg@riksarkivet.se

www.digisam.se

JOHANNA BERG is a senior adviser at Digisam – the National coordination of digitisation, preservation and access to cultural heritage – appointed by the Swedish Government. She has been working in museum and cultural heritage policy since 1998, and held the position as research secretary during a national inquiry on museum policy 2007-09. Berg’s formal background is in literature and history of ideas.

INTELLIGENCE

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