The “twice-looted” archives refer to a vast body of documents that were looted by Nazi agencies during, and again by Soviet Army units immediately following World War II. The archives were taken in the context of the two most intensive programs of cultural heritage looting in modern history. Their fate remained unknown until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Since then, many efforts have been made to return the documents to their original owners. However, significant obstacles have hindered restitution, leaving a large body of foreign archives in Russia. By connecting the history and current status of the “twice-looted” archives to archival theory and ethical principles on cultural heritage property, this thesis provides a foundation from which to approach archival restitution. The analysis of recent additions to archival theory provides new understandings of archival meaning that may facilitate the restitution of archives displaced by war. Reviewing the details of the archives’ successive seizures leading to their extended residency in the secret “Special Archive” (TsGOA) and discussing restitution developments on national and international levels reveals how exploitation of archives during war violates archival principles. Concluding with specific case studies further illustrates the complex nature of archives and archival meaning and its significance for archival restitution. These discussions reveal the damages that result when archives become targets of war. This in turn, encourages respect for archives and brings attention to the necessity of safeguarding archival heritage.

La thèse interroge les pratiques mises en œuvre aujourd'hui pour collecter des objets contemporains au sein des écomusées et des musées de société en France. Cette question de la " contemporanéité " connaît un regain d'actualité en muséologie et prête le flanc à la critique dans le paysage des politiques culturelles. Aussi, la première partie constitue le questionnement théorique de la recherche. Elle interroge la situation paradoxale des musées ethnographiques français, dans l'objectif d'examiner la nouvelle orientation des collections, axée sur le " contemporain ". La deuxième partie trace l'évolution dans les orientations, les méthodes et les finalités des politiques d'acquisition. Le corpus de la recherche analyse, dans ce sens, des pratiques de collecte aujourd'hui opérationnelles au sein de trois musées, foncièrement différents de par leur taille, leur implantation géographique et leurs missions : le musée des Civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée (MUCEM) à Marseille, l'écomusée du Val de Bièvre à Fresnes (Val-de-Marne) et le musée de la ville de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (Yvelines). Enfin, la troisième partie de la thèse présente les résultats de l'étude expérimentale de terrain. D'abord, en examinant le sens du contemporain au sein du musée de société, à travers la représentativité des exemples retenus dans le corpus. Ensuite, en présentant les conséquences de la collecte de l'objet contemporain, tant sur les missions du musée que sur le statut de l'objet. Ces deux entités sont analysées dans le cadre d'un " système signifiant " qui permet au musée de construire un savoir et une connaissance sur l'objet d'aujourd'hui, à partir des notions d'" altérité ", de " document ", de " tri ", de " mémoire " et de " patrimoine ".

The Caribbean, which is one of the most tourism-dependent regions of the world, is rich in cultural heritage, but it lacks developed and attractive cultural heritage sites. In particular, this is true for attractions that make use of the “dark” cultural heritage of the region which is associated with the Transatlantic Trade in Africans as slaves. This lack is seen as a major weakness in the region’s tourism product. This research explores the development of “dark” cultural heritage resources as attractions in the town of Falmouth, Jamaica, an 18th century port town that had a thriving economy during the peak period of British colonialism and the trade in Africans as slaves. Today, the economic importance of Falmouth is only a shadow of what it was during the infamous “glorious” days when sugarcane was “king and money in abundance” and Jamaica a leading sugar exporting colony was seen as a “jewel” in the English crown. A concurrent mixed method approach was used in the study where both qualitative and quantitative data from primary and secondary sources were collected and analysed. The methods that were used for data collection include questionnaire survey, semi-structured interviews, historical research and townscape survey. A systematic sampling technique was used to randomly select 100 households for a face-to-face questionnaire survey which achieved a 94% response rate. On the other hand, the purposive and snowball sampling methods were used to select twelve stakeholders for in-depth semi-structured interviews to ascertain their expectations and perspectives about the cultural heritage of the town. The textual data generated from the interviews were studied using content analysis, where substantive statements were identified from individual transcripts. Also, most appropriately, historical research was conducted to collect and evaluate historical information, such as written testimonies of eyewitnesses to events and also written accounts by person not immediately present at the time, but who obtained their description of events from someone else. In addition, a townscape survey was carried out to map, collect and evaluate data on a number of cultural heritage resources in Falmouth. It involved detailed field observation and the recording of the quality of townscape elements that are evaluated based on established criteria. Overall, the residents strongly supported tourism and argued for its development and expansion in Falmouth. They believed that the environmental, economic and socio-cultural benefits from tourism outweighed the negative implications of which they are fully aware. The data collection methods unearthed and confirmed that there is an abundance of dark cultural heritage in Falmouth that is associated with the Transatlantic Trade in Africans as slaves. Both tangible and intangible, highly rated cultural heritage resources were identified mainly in the Historic District. In all, twenty-seven cultural heritage resources and features that have the potential to be developed as attractions in support of a dark cultural heritage theme were identified, evaluated and catalogued. The major constraints to heritage development that were cited include: financial, psychological, absentee land owners, heritage designation’s restrictions, lack of consensus on developmental issues and some negative social perceptions. Residents and stakeholders suggested the following strategies to engage locals: sensitizing them to heritage development; providing them with information about opportunities as a result of the development; giving them practical information on ways to improve structures and restore buildings; providing them with information and education to build awareness about the cultural heritage of the town; and a public education campaign. Also, residents are amenable to: tour guiding, bed and breakfast operators, visitors’ service employees and involvement in planning conservation efforts. Residents attached a very high positive value to the cultural heritage resources of Falmouth even though they are aware that a lot of it is associated with the Transatlantic Trade. Such dark cultural heritage is deemed a significant part of the town’s heritage, so it is appropriate to use it for developing attractions for future generations where visitors can learn and be educated about the impact of the Transatlantic Trade. This position that the town should be developed as a destination where visitors can learn about slavery was supported by approximately 94% of the respondents to the questionnaire survey. Thus, the residents of Falmouth are motivated to tell the true story of the place. They unanimously are of the opinion that action should be taken to: promote Falmouth as a tourist destination, clean up and beautify Falmouth and provide job training for residents. Additional agreed and suggested actions include: infrastructure development; the development of educational awareness programmes; the development of heritage resources and related infrastructure; providing loans; grants and subsidies to building owners, building citizens’ awareness of cultural heritage and heritage programs; the provision of more entertainment facilities and activities; the development of Falmouth and addressing the cultural heritage of the town; A Master Plan is needed with a systematic way for its implementation along with the requisite funding; the implementation of a legislative framework to protect the town’s cultural heritage; the building of consensus among stakeholders; establishing a framework for the funding of restoration; engaging local and international organizations such as the JNHT and UNESCO; the sharing of plans at town-hall meetings; convene a meeting of all training agencies; and the development and implementation of a master plan. This research explored the development of Falmouth that has a “dark” and contested heritage, for sightseeing, learning and as an exemplary place for authentic experiences of identity for the African Diaspora. It will indeed help in the process to diversify Jamaica’s tourism product, contributes to the development of awareness and understanding of heritage at sensitive sites that are linked to humankind’s suffering and mass death. Finally, the study complements the UNESCO’s Slave Route Project that seeks to put an end to the historical silence on the African slave trade and slavery in general. The research concluded with a proposed planning framework for developing and promoting dark cultural heritage attractions.

This thesis identifies the causes and the process of the change of the historic city center of Samsun since the beginning of the 20th century by the role of the development and conservation activities. Because of rapid urban growth and the lack of conservation principles in city plans, most of the city centers have been subjected to growth-conservation contradiction. As a result of this, the historic city centers lose their unique characteristics and cultural heritage while they change rapidly. The city of Samsun became an important trade and transport center since the middle of the 19th century and significantly improved in economic, physical and cultural aspects. As the tobacco production has developed, tobacco factory has been founded and the port of Samsun has become the most important port of the Black Sea by the middle of the 19th century, the Non-Muslim traders began to settle in Samsun. Hence, Samsun became an important center of the Black Sea region with its commercial activities and multicultural social structure. However, after the middle of the 20th century, as a result of the rapid urban growth, Samsun started to lose its unique urban tissue and cultural heritage increasingly. Today the urban fabric of the city does not reflect its historical importance. The remaining cultural heritage of the city belonging to early 20th century is not legible within today&acute / s urban tissue. By identifying the change in urban tissue, the thesis aims to present the current situation of the cultural properties within today&acute / s urban fabric and prepare a basis for conservation.

This thesis explores the topic of convergence of descriptive systems between different cultural heritage institutions — libraries, archives and museums. The primary purpose of integrated descriptive systems is to enable researchers to access cultural heritage information through one portal. Beginning with definitions of each type of cultural heritage institution and a historical overview of their evolution, the thesis then provides an analysis of similarities and differences between these institutions with respect to purpose, procedures, and perspective. The latter half of the thesis first provides a historical overview of each discipline’s descriptive practices with a brief comparative analysis before discussing various methods by which these institutions can create integrated descriptive systems. The overall emphasis is on complementary similarities between the institutions and the potential for cross-sectoral collaboration that these similarities enable. The conclusion of the thesis is that creating integrated descriptive systems is desirable and well within current technological capabilities. / October 2007

This essay is about how Östergötland County Museum and Gotland museum use the social network Facebook to connect and communicate with their visitors/followers. It is also about the followers and the experience they get. Two interviews were made with staff from the museums to answer why and how the museums use Facebook. There were also two questionnaires sent to the museums' Facebook followers. The Facebook followers have given answers about why they follow the museums but it also sheds light on age and gender of the followers. The purpose of the essay has been to explore the field of research and the relations between the museum and the followers. Some of the conclusions are: Gotland museum wants a dialog with the visitors and Östergötland County Museum wants to be socially relevant, but none of them have managed to achieve that yet. Many of the followers that have answered the questionnaires are women in the age of 35 to 54. This doesn’t mean that the museums' followers mainly consist of women. In this research field there are much more to explore.

Museerna har genom åren långsamt utvecklats mot öppnare institutioner, vilket under de senaste decennierna har visat sig bland annat som en strävan efter dialog med museets publik. Denna utveckling har likheter med hur internet under de senaste åren blivit allt mer inriktat på deltagande och sociala aspekter, ofta kallat webb 2.0. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om svenska länsmuseer och centralmuseer använder webben för att inbjuda till dialog med sina virtuella besökare. Uppsatsen tar också upp vad denna typ av webbarbete kan ha för konsekvenser, och hur museerna skulle kunna uppnå en högre grad av interaktion på internet. De svenska läns- och centralmuseernas webbplatser har analyserats ur en genomsnittlig användares perspektiv. De aspekter som tas upp är huruvida texten eller funktionerna på webbplatserna uppmuntrar till kontakt, interaktion eller dialog med museet. Skillnaden mellan kontakt, interaktion och dialog ligger i vilken typ av kommunikation det handlar om och vilken typ av information som museet efterfrågar, men också i hur relationen ser ut mellan museet och besökarna: är museet auktoriteten eller inbjuder det besökaren att påverka? På de undersökta svenska museernas webbplatser finns endast ett fåtal funktioner som utnyttjar webbens möjligheter till deltagande. De flesta webbplatserna ger snarare intryck av att vara främst reklammaterial för det fysiska museet. Detta kan bero på att webben ses som ett verktyg snarare än som en del av en virtuell kultur. Exempel finns dock på utländska museer som satsat mycket på sin virtuella närvaro. Olika sociala medier som skulle kunna användas av museer i interaktionssyfte tas också upp, främst bloggar, folksonomier och sociala nätverk. Bloggar blir allt vanligare på museer och kan användas för att till exempel visa föremål eller diskutera museets verksamhet. Besökare kan enkelt delta genom att skriva kommentarer, eller i vissa fall till och med skriva egna inlägg. Folksonomi, eller social taggning av konstverk och föremål, kan användas som navigationsverktyg på webbplatserna, vilket kan ha både för- och nackdelar beroende på vilket mål museet har med att visa sina samlingar virtuellt. Sociala nätverk, som communities av olika slag, kan för museerna vara ett sätt att nå ut till sina besökare men även till nya besökargrupper. Allmänhetens förtroende för museerna och museernas förtroende för allmänheten är något som kan påverkas av ett "öppnare" webbarbete. Förtroende behöver dock inte vara kopplat till auktoritet, och det finns tecken som tyder på att synen på auktoritet är under förändring i och med att delaktighet och deltagande blir allt vanligare i samhället. Detta är något som museer måste förhålla sig till oavsett hur de arbetar idag, och det finns troligen många fördelar med att hänga med i utvecklingen.

Begreppet "digitalt kulturarv" har två betydelser: dels digitaliserat fysiskt kulturarv, till exempel digitala kopior av föremål, dels det kulturarv som består av företeelser som skapats digitalt och därmed inte har någon fysisk motsvarighet. Det är det senare området, föremål som i sin ursprungsform är digitala, som denna uppsats fokuserar på. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka om digitala kulturföremål kan räknas som en del av museernas uppdrag, samt hur museer i så fall kan samla in, bevara och visa dessa föremål. Digitalt material bygger inte på att föremålen har en fysisk form, och de ställs därför ofta i motsats till de materiella föremål som museer samlar in och bevarar. Däremot utesluter ingen av de museidefinitioner som undersöks i uppsatsen att museer även hanterar immateriellt kulturarv. Om museet dessutom inte fokuserar på föremålen i sig utan på föremålens betydelser och sammanhang, vilket många menar, så spelar det mindre roll om det som förmedlar betydelsen eller sammanhanget har fysisk form eller ej. Bland andra Unesco har också poängterat att det är viktigt att digitalt kulturarv bevaras. Samtidigt som det digitala kulturarvet växer i omfattning riskerar nämligen de digitala föremålen i sig att försvinna, antingen för att de inte bevaras alls eller för att de inte bevaras på ett lämpligt sätt. Ett av problemen är att de medier som materialet idag lagras på är instabila i sig och bevarande kräver därför att föremålen flyttas till andra lagringsmedier efterhand. En annan risk är att digitala föremål i framtiden inte kommer att kunna avläsas eftersom de maskiner eller den programvara som hanterade dem inte längre finns kvar eller går att använda. Det finns alltså ett antal faktorer som de institutioner som samlar in digitalt material bör vara medvetna om, även om de rutiner som museerna redan har för dokumentation och insamling i många fall även kan appliceras på digitala föremål. Utställning av digitalt kulturarv är en fråga i sig eftersom digitala föremål och helt digitala utställningar kräver ett annat tillvägagångssätt än när museet ställer ut fysiska föremål.

This essay examines the debate that arose in connection to the sale of Carl Larsson’s monumental painting Midvinterblot in 1987. My main purpose is to examine which meanings the debaters ascribed Midvinterblot and in which way the debate influenced the paintings significance as cultural heritage. I will therefore argue that the debate initiated a renegotitation of the paintings meaning as cultural heritage. In the debate the debaters emphasized the National Museum’s responsibility over cultural heritage, Midvinterblots aestethic, the paintings economic value and its national implications. The controversies concerning the painting shows that its meaning as cultural heritage was not constituted by the painting itself but by the meanings which the debaters placed upon it. The debate also sheds light on that there may be a wide variety of opinions concerning what it is that constitutes as cultural heritage. The meanings the debaters ascribed Midvinterblot related, however, in a crucial way to each other. My examination of the debate also show how cultural heritage is created to fill a specific purpose, for example, to maintain cultural values, to attract tourists or as a resource in the formation of group identities.

Ett syfte med studien är att introducera en metod för komparativ kulturarvsanalys. Metoden skall kunna användas för att analysera hur kulturarvsvärden värderas och hur de används i interpretation och presentation. Metoden som prövas skall uppfylla studiens övriga tre syften: att genom en nulägesanalys studera hur de olika kulturarvsvärdena i och kring Kinda kanal uppfattas, värderas, vårdas och visas, för att mot denna bakgrund jämföra liknande områden nationellt och internationellt och finna konstruktiva uppslag till framtida utvecklingsplaner och möjligheter för upplevelseområdet Kinda kanal.