Keynote speakers

Aslak Sira Myhre

Since 2014 Aslak has been working as Director of the National Library of Norway. As a National Librarian, Myhre has emphasized the dissemination of the historical collection, the development of digital services and the development of libraries as public information institutions.


After leaving his political career, he became an executive of !Les, a non-profit organization whose main duty is to promote reading and engage people to read more. In 2006 he was appointed as director for the House of Literature (Litteraturhuset) in Oslo which is Europe’s largest with 250.000 annual visitors.


Myhre has published several books and worked as a journalist for several newspapers and magazines in Norway and abroad, including The Guardian, The Washington Post, Aftonbladet, Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK), Klassekampen, Stavanger Aftenblad, Dagbladet, Samtiden, and Prosa. His articles in The Guardian and The Washington Post after the terror in Oslo on July 22, 2011 have been translated into more than twenty languages.


Digital library dead ends


Digitisation is not the answer to any question says National librarian of Norway Aslak Sira Myhre in this key note, where he tells the story of how Norway got the most expansive digital National Library in the world, and how they now work to transform a massive wall of information into services and common knowledge.



Geoffrey Yeo

Geoffrey Yeo is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in archives and records management in the Department of Information Studies at University College London (UK). With more than 40 years’ experience as an archival practitioner, consultant, and educator, he is the author of numerous books, book chapters, and articles on many aspects of archival theory and practice. He is editor of the Principles and Practice in Records Management and Archives series of professional texts, and is also a member of the editorial boards of Archivaria (Canada) and Arhivski Vjesnik (Croatia). Although now retired from professional practice, he continues to be active as a researcher and writer and as a speaker at conferences on archival topics.


Beyond Institutions: Exploring Boundaries and Intersections Between Archival Science and Library and Information Studies


Yeo's presentation will explore the boundaries and intersections, both conceptual and practical, between the field of archives and the field of LIS. Building on his two most recent books, Records, Information and Data (Facet, 2018) and Record-Making and Record-Keeping in Early Societies (Routledge, 2021), he will address this topic from a historical as well as a present-day perspective. He will look back at different perceptions in the past and will look forward to the future of these disciplines in the era of new digital media.



Keynote Panel:
Libraries, Archives, and Museums in Transition

Join editors Casper Hvenegaard Rasmussen, Håkon Larsen and Kerstin Rydbeck and chapter authors Jamie Johnston and Henrik Jochumsen in a keynote panel session to discuss conference themes covered in the newly published anthology titled Libraries, Archives, and Museums in Transition: Changes, Challenges, and Convergence in a Scandinavian Perspective

Book Description:

In recent decades, relations between libraries, archives, and museums (LAMs) have changed rapidly: collections have been digitized; books, documents and objects have been mixed in new ways; and LAMs have picked up new tasks in response to external changes. Libraries now host makerspaces and literary workshops; archives fight climate change and support indigenous people; and museums are used as instruments for economic growth and urban planning. At first glance, the described changes may appear as a divergent development, where LAMs are growing apart. However, this book demonstrates that the present transformation of LAMs is primarily a convergent development.

Panelists:

Casper Hvenegaard Rasmussen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, Section for Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAM) at the University of Copenhagen. His long-term research interest involves library studies and cultural policy studies. His current research focuses on the relations between libraries, archives and museums.

Kerstin Rydbeck is a Professor of Information Studies at Uppsala University and holds a doctoral degree in Literature. Her research focuses on the sociology of literature and topics related to readers, reading patterns, and social reading activities as well as on the history of popular education and public libraries.

Håkon Larsen is Professor of Library and Information Science at Oslo Metropolitan University. His principal areas of interest are cultural sociology, cultural policy studies, and library studies. He has published extensively on the topic of cultural organizations and legitimacy. He holds a PhD in Sociology.

Henrik Jochumsen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, University of Copenhagen. He has done extensive research on cultural policy and public libraries, including library spaces, partnerships between the library and the surrounding community, and development of new competencies among librarians.

Jamie Johnston is an Associate Professor at Oslo Metropolitan University and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Iceland. Her research interests are in the area of public library practices related to the fostering of inclusion, citizenship, and democracy with particular focus on how libraries facilitate intercultural encounters and dialog.


Moderator:

Sunniva Evjen