STOCKHOLM.- Nationalmuseum has launched its first digital journal, which is available online to download and read free of charge. The Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Stockholm contains academic articles on art history relating to Nationalmuseum’s collections. The journal is moving to digital-only format and will be available through the DiVA portal and the museum’s own website.

The Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Stockholm is an annual publication containing academic articles on art history relating to Nationalmuseum’s collections. The journal has existed in print form since 1996, but is now switching to digital-only format, starting with volume 20. The journal’s established graphic design will be enhanced through the addition of digital media features such as metadata, live links to chapter headings and page references, and high-resolution images. The full text of the Art Bulletin will be published on the DiVA portal, a Swedish publishing system for academic research and student theses. The journal will also be available on the Nationalmuseum website.

"For an art institution like Nationalmuseum, it’s important to offer our readers high-quality images that do full justice to the works," said Janna Herder, editor of the Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Stockholm. "Readers therefore have the option of downloading the entire journal in low-resolution format or individual articles in high-resolution format."

Nationalmuseum expects to attract a larger and wider readership now that the journal and its articles are freely available and searchable via Google and other search engines. As a member of the DiVA portal, the museum is able to distribute the publication more effectively in the academic community.

"This is a further step in the digital evolution of Nationalmuseum and a key initiative in fulfilling our mandate to improve access to and awareness of our collections," said Magdalena Gram, the museum’s head of research, library and archives and the journal’s editor-in-chief. "Another aspect of our mandate involves collaboration with other institutions such as universities and colleges. Offering an established publication like the Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Stockholm in digital format through the DiVA portal marks a breakthrough in terms of our ability to make specialized knowledge and information freely available."