Why the web?

Cultural institutions in Sweden produce growing digital collections. Most of them do, since many years, have a website. The awareness of how to manage websites is growing, especially among authorities like the National Archives and the National Library. The demand for 24/7 access to public service online has caused the authorities to remake their websites, to provide functionality. The result is successful and the public service is provided, but to what extent? Information is provided, but what about access to our cultural heritage? Is that goal achieved?

In the process of adapting websites to functionality, the ways to convey national, regional and local history, has been confined to Content Management Systems (CMS), not just technically but functionally. The digitized object in the collection, whether it may be a book, a photograph or a piece of furniture, has been conformed into a publishing system, a database, the interface of the database or the preset interface of the website. The technology has set the rules for publishing.

At the same time smaller institutions have been left behind in the process of creating functional and accessible websites. Many are still depending on temporary projects and lack a strategy for web publishing with a longer perspective.

Conclusion
Digitization is at large an issue that has been dealt with, within cultural institutions. Objects have been digitized for reasons such as preservation and accessibility. However, the public interface, can easily put an end to serious ambitions. Accessibility can turn into inaccessibility. A web strategy can be a main solution to these concerns, and a way to give grounds for the online presence.