DH Lecture Series: Norway’s Forgotten Ballads – Digitizing a Cultural Heritage
The skilling ballads, a central part of Norway’s folk music tradition, have long been inaccessible to both researchers and the general public. In a pioneering project at NTNU, a collection of skilling prints from the Gunnerus Library has been digitized. In this lecture, project leader and Associate Professor Siv Gøril Brandtzæg shares insights from the work of developing the first database for Norwegian skilling ballads and discusses the challenges that may arise when the humanities and technology intersect to preserve cultural heritage.
Main content
The lecture will be held in Norwegian.
Skilling ballads were a form of popular song lyrics that circulated in Norway from the 16th century until the 1950s. These songs were printed on simple broadsheets, known as skillingstrykk, and are among the oldest preserved printed materials in Norway and Scandinavia. Until quite recently, this important part of our cultural heritage remained inaccessible to both researchers and the general public. For decades, skillingstrykk were hidden away in dark archive boxes in libraries and museums across Norway.
Between 2018 and 2022, several projects were launched in Norway to highlight the role of skilling ballads in Norwegian cultural heritage. One of these projects focused on digitizing the NTNU Gunnerus Library’s collection of skillingstrykk. The work to make this collection accessible was led by Siv Gøril Brandtzæg, who also created Norway’s first—and so far only—database of skilling ballads. In this presentation, Brandtzæg will discuss the process of developing the database, which was built using the open-source web application Omeka. The construction and design of the database were a collaborative effort between Brandtzæg and NTNU’s IT department, along with a web designer from a private company. She will share insights into working with different stakeholders and the challenges she faced as a humanities scholar without IT expertise on the path to creating the database. See the database here.
About the Speaker
Siv Gøril Brandtzæg is an Associate Professor of Literary Studies at the Department of Language and Literature at NTNU. She led the research project Skilling Ballads in Norway, 1550-1950: The Neglected Cultural Heritage, funded by the Research Council of Norway, from 2018 to 2021.
The DH Lecture Series
The DH Lecture Series is a collaboration between the Digital Lab at the University of Bergen Library, the D-lab at NTNU and the Norwegian Network for Digital Humanities and Cultural Organization (DHKO). The lecture series addresses DH-related topics, and gives researchers and others involved in DH projects or research the opportunity to share their experiences, successes and challenges related to the use of digital tools and/or methods.
Do you have suggestions for topics you would like to hear more about, or are you working on something that you would like to share in a lecture? Do not hesitate to contact us organizers by e-mail.
In the spring of 2025, you can attend digital DH lectures on the following dates and times:
Thursday 13th of February at 11.30-12.00
Thursday 13th of March at 11.30-12.00
Thursday 10th of April at 11.30-12.00
Thursday 8th of May at 11.30-12.00
Follow the Digital Lab's calendar for more information about each individual lecture.
Practical information
Sign up for the lecture by using the registration form. A Zoom link will be sent out to all registered participants the day before.