In the project SAMLA, the archival material and collections of the three Norwegian tradition archives, The Norwegian Folklore Archives (NFS) at the University in Oslo, The Norwegian Ethnological Research (NEG) at the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History, and The Ethno-Folkloristic Archives at the University in Bergen will be digitalized and made accessible. SAMLA is financed through the Norwegian Research Council’s INFRASTRUKTUR-programme, and is included in the Norwegian Roadmap for Research Infrastructure.
In the archive we find cultural historical material of great value that will become available on the website samla.no, as one digital archive. The technical infrastructure will be developed by the University Library at the University in Bergen. Together, the three archives include a great variety of cultural practices and expressions, from the majority population in Norway, as well as from the minority populations and first peoples. Taken together, they provide a valuable picture of attitudes, everyday life and perspectives.
The purpose of the digital archive is to open for more research on continuities and change within Norwegian, as well as Nordic and European cultural history. The digital database will open for advanced search possibilities across institutions and material categories. In addition, the project will be coordinated with similar digital infrastructures in other countries. This will be done mainly through the American/European project Intelligent Search Engine for Belief Legends (ISEBEL). To begin with, this coordination will be done with infrastructures in Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands and Germany.
Collections of folktales, legends, ballads, beliefs, folk medicine, food and craft traditions are examples of data that will become more available through the project. These are important for researchers, as well as for the tourist industry, cultural heritage sector, creative industries, education institutions, museums and local history organizations.
The infrastructure will be developed at Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion at the University in Bergen, together with the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages at the University in Oslo, and The Norwegian Museum of Cultural History. The University Library at the University in Bergen is responsible for developing the technical solutions. The database will have the partners in the project as editors, while the material itself will be available for the wider public, in line with the FAIR principles for research data.
