Archives, libraries and museums in the Nordic model of the public sphere
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-12-2016-0148 |
| Pages | 187-194 |
| Published date | 08 January 2018 |
| Date | 08 January 2018 |
| Author | Håkon Larsen |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
Archives, libraries and
museums in the Nordic model
of the public sphere
Håkon Larsen
Department of Archivistics, Library and Information Sciences,
Oslo, Norway and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Oslo, Norway
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of ALM organizations within a Nordic model of the
public sphere.
Design/methodology/approach –This is a conceptual paper discussing the role of archives, libraries and
museums in light of a societal model of the Nordic public sphere. Throughout the discussions, the author
draw on empirical and theoretical research from sociology, political science, media studies, cultural policy
studies, archival science, museology, and library and information science to help advance our understanding
of these organizations in a wider societal context.
Findings –The paper shows that ALM organizations play an important role for the infrastructure of a civil
public sphere. Seen as a cluster, these organizations are providers of information that can be employed in
deliberative activities in mediated public spheres, as well as training arenas for citizens to use prior to
entering such spheres. Furthermore, ALM organizations are themselves public spheres, as they can serve
specific communities and help create and maintain identities, and solidarities, all of which are important parts
of a civil public sphere.
Research limitations/implications –Future research should investigate whether these roles are an
important part of ALM organizations contribution to public spheres in other regions of the world.
Originality/value –Through introducing a theoretical model developed within sociology and connecting it
to ongoing research in archival science, museology, and library and information science, the author connects
the societal role of archives, libraries, and museums to broader discussions within the social sciences.
Keywords Libraries, Archives, Museums, Public sphere, Civil sphere, Freedom of speech, Nordic model
Paper type Conceptual paper
Introduction
Even though there is an emerging literature on libraries (Widdersheim and Koizumi, 2016)
and museums (Barrett, 2011) as public sphere institutions and archivist have started to
actively engagewith their communities (Theimer,2011b; Cook, 2013), most of the literatureon
these topics is too general to account for regionaldifferences in the role of ALM organizations
for national public spheres. One region of Europe that is commonly described as comprising
a specific societal model is the Nordic region. However, most of the research performed on
the Nordic Model of social democracy has tended to focus on the welfare state and working
life (i.e. Dølvik et al., 2015; Esping-Andersen, 1990; Ryner, 2007; Alestale et al., 2009),
and in large part neglected to take into account the important role that the public sphere
and the culture sector play for this societal model. Although there are a few notable
exceptions, these have instead focused solely on the media (Syvertsen et al., 2014; Hallin and
Mancini, 2004) or cul tural policy (Duelund, 2003; Mangset et al., 2008) in discussing the
Nordic model, and have not paid sufficient attention to how these are connected to larger
societal structures.
Syvertsen et al. (2014) did have an intention of demonstrating that the media sector and
media policy in the Nordic countries share a lot of similar traits with how the welfare state
and working life is organized, but their discussion nevertheless became too focused on
specific aspects of the media sector. In the book, they discussed media use, the press, public
service broadcasting, and media companies more generally. These are, no doubt, important
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 74 No. 1, 2018
pp. 187-194
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-12-2016-0148
Received 7 December 2016
Revised 26 April 2017
Accepted 27 April 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0022-0418.htm
187
Nordic model
of the public
sphere
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