Museums and collections

Name: Museums and collections

Topic: Culture and recreation

Division for Education and Culture Statistics

Data are published on national and county level.

The statistics are published once a year. The statistics are also published annually in a larger paper publication, Culture Statistics. The Norwegian Arts Council also publishes Museum Statistics once a year.

Collected and revised data are stored securely by Statistics Norway in compliance with applicable legislation on data processing.

Statistics Norway can grant access to the source data (de-identified or anonymised microdata) on which the statistics are based, for researchers and public authorities for the purposes of preparing statistical results and analyses. Access can be granted upon application and subject to conditions. Refer to the details about this at Access to data from Statistics Norway.

The purpose is to provide an overview of the museum activities during the year. The statistics are intended to offer valuable information to central and local authorities, as well as others who are, in one way or another, involved in the operation or funding of museums. Museum statistics have been published annually since 1983, with exceptions in 1984 and 1990. Previously, the statistics were prepared in collaboration with Statens museumsråd and with Norwegian Archive, Library and Museum Authority. Since 2011, the statistics have been prepared in cooperation with Kulturdirektoratet.

In addition to providing necessary management information to ministries, counties, and municipalities - Museumsnett, Kulturditekoratet, Noregs museumsforbund, the press, and the general public are also important users.

No external users have access to statistics before they are released at 8 a.m. on ssb.no after at least three months’ advance notice in the release calendar. This is one of the most important principles in Statistics Norway for ensuring the equal treatment of users.

The museum statistics are also utilized in conjunction with other statistics, such as the Norwegian Culture Barometer, which is a survey on people's cultural habits.

The statistics are developed, produced and disseminated pursuant to Act no. 32 of 21 June 2019 relating to official statistics and Statistics Norway (the Statistics Act).

There is no unambiguous definition of a museum in Norway. Even up to the 2001 statistics, this meant that all collections open to the public could be included in the population (see also ICOM's definition of a museum: NOU 1996:7 Museum - mangfald, minne, møtestad, page 35). Some museums are administratively grouped under a single entity, even if they are individual museums. In these cases, only the administrative entity will receive the forms. Starting from the 2002 statistical year, the statistics consist of a subpopulation of Norwegian museums. In addition to museums being open to the public, we have limited the population to include only those museums that have at least one full-time equivalent employee in the statistical year. This is part of making the population more stable.

There has also been an extensive consolidation process in the museum sector. This process led to a decrease in the number of administrative entities required to report year by year for a period, but it is still assumed that the statistics cover the same museums.

Apart from consolidation, one can still observe that the population varies from year to year, as, for example, some entirely new entities join, while other entities may not deliver to the annual statistics from time to time. Whether the museums that do not report are small or large entities will naturally affect the statistics from year to year.

In 2016, five entities were removed from the museum population because their operations were no longer considered to fall within the scope of museum operations, mainly because they did not have their own collections.

The individual museums are the source of their data. Since 2017, museums report electronically via Altinn. Kulturdirektoratet compiles the data and sends it to Statistics Norway (SSB). Since 2004, reporting has been electronic to Kulturdirektoratet (formerly ABM-utvikling and Kulturrådet ).

The statistics cover the museums that Kulturdirektoratet has registered, which are open to the public, and have at least one full-time equivalent employee in the statistical year.

Kulturdirektoratet sends out a notification about the delivery of electronic forms with a response deadline in March/April every year. Kulturdirektoratet is responsible for reminders. The collected data file is sent to SSB for further processing.

Manual and mechanical checks are performed during the compilation of the statistics. The editing process is defined here as checking, examining and amending data.

Due to the lack of a clear population definition and varying response rates from year to year, it's difficult to make statements about activity over time. Starting from the statistical year 2002, the statistics consist of a subpopulation of norwegian museums. In addition to museums being open to the public, we've limited the population to include only those museums with at least one full-time equivalent employee in the statistical year. This is part of making the population more stable. At the same time, we can see that the population varies from year to year, with some entirely new entities joining and other entities occasionally not submitting data for the annual statistics. Whether the museums that don't submit are small or large entities can naturally affect the statistics from year to year.

In some years, a museum may be closed for renovations or similar reasons. In some cases, this may significantly impact the figures.

Over the years, museums have consistently made quality improvements, and in some instances, they have revised their methods for inventorying objects and items. For example, more than half of the alterations in the count of art historical objects between 2010 and 2011 can be attributed to the National Museum's decision to classify all items in its collections as art historical objects from 2011 onwards. Furthermore, since 2011, museums have been using the count of registered objects in their collection databases, instead of relying on estimates from 2002 plus annual growth. The majority of changes in the number of photographs between 2010 and 2011 can be traced back to the adoption of a new standardized counting method for collections at a museum in Akershus.

From 2016, basic exhibitions and temporary exhibitions have been combined into a new category, "Exhibitions."

Museums continuously improve their collections and reporting. This was also the case in 2018, which is reflected in the data. For example, one of the museums redefined parts of its collections as archives, removing them from the museum and collection statistics. Furthermore, another museum had its status changed and was no longer required to submit data to the statistics, a choice they made for 2018.

Errors can occur during the completion of forms in individual museums and in the work at SSB (Statistics Norway). Most of these errors are identified and corrected through both mechanical and manual checks. Some museums choose not to respond to certain questions on the form.

A revision is a planned change to figures that have already been published, for example when releasing final figures as a follow-up to published preliminary figures. See also Statistics Norway’s principles for revisions.