Kildesikring og kaoskontroll – om bevaringsideologier og forvaltningsstrategier i en digital tidsalder

Norwegian museums have been the subject of a great deal of public attention in recent years. Unfortunately, this is not because of their interesting, compelling and thought-provoking exhibitions, but because of poor preservation practices and deteriorating collections. Previous reports have highlighted numerous failings in the management of these collections. A large portion of the collections has suffered through decades of poor storage. Some objects have even been damaged as a result of unacceptable storage conditions. Proper management of the collections has been hampered still further by the lack of common management systems. In the past ten to fifteen years, several projects have been launched in order to enhance collection management and to make the collections more accessible to the public. In this paper, we give a brief outline of the history of collections. We also provide a critical review of the projects and offer some suggestions as to what museums can do to further improve access to and the preservation of collections.