European encyclopedia conference
2024
Oslo, Norway, May 15th and 16th (+17th), 2024
The European Encyclopedia Network and The Great Norwegian Encyclopedia (SNL) invited all national encyclopedias of the world to a conference in Oslo, Norway, in May 2024.
25 encyclopedists from 12 countries participated the conference.
Attendees
 | Bulgarian Encyclopedia | 2 |
|---|---|---|
 | Lex.dk | 2 |
 | Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography | 2 |
 | Treccani | 1 |
 | Latvian National Encyclopedia | 1 |
 | Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts | 2 |
 | Great Norwegian Encyclopedia | 5 |
 | Swedish National Encyclopedia | 3 |
 | Encyclopaedia Beliana | 2 |
 | Ukrainian State Research Institution “Encyclopedia Press” | 3 |
 | University of Idaho | 1 |
Programme
The conference was held at the SNL’s office. This way you’ll get a feel of the editorial team and the daily routines. We’ll serve a Norwegian lunch (which is quite simple), and have dinner together each night.
Tuesday May 14
18:00–21:00 Meet and greet: Drinks and pizza at the SNL office
Wednesday May 15
10:00 Welcome. Short presentation of all attendants
10:45 Key note: Encyclopedias as vehicles for knowledge diplomacy in an era of information disorder. Naja Bentzen, policy analyst at the European Parliament
11:30 Ukraine: Creating an encyclopedia in the midst of a war.
12:00 Italy: The Treccani encyclopedia.
12:15 Lunch
13:00 Short round of status for each encyclopedia
14:00 Progress of the complaint case to the EU competition authority. Ole Kaag Mølgaard, Lex.dk
14:15 Break
14:30 Search engines and encyclopedias Christian Doelemann-Lassen, IIH Nordic
16:00 Encyclopedia history Michael Coates, University of Idaho
19:00–22:00 Conference dinner at Ekebergrestauranten
Thursday May 16
10:00 The effect of AI and language models on encyclopedias. Bente Kalsnes, professor at Kristiania University College and Erik Bolstad, SNL. Discussions.
11:30 Language models and copyright. Arne Vestbø, Norwegian Non-Fiction Writers and Translators Association
12:15 Encyclopedias as channels for scientific publishing, the European system for academic publishing points. Gunnar Sivertsen, Nordic Institute for Studies of innovation, research and education and Nataša Jermen, Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography
13:00 Lunch
13:45 Cooperating with Wikimedia, using Wikidata. Mathias Schindler, volunteer at Wikimedia Deutschland
14:30 Encyclopedias for children. The new Norwegian and Swedish Children's encyclopedia and other encyclopedias experiences. Guro Djupvik, SNL and Låtta Skogh, NE
15:30 Annual meeting of the European Encyclopedia Network. Location of next years conference.
16:00 Discussion: Potential projects for cooperation
18:00–20:00 Informal dinner at Vippa, Akershusstranda 25
Friday May 17
08:00–12:00 Walk around and watch the celebrations
12:00–14:00 Lunch at Erik’s flat
14:00–15:00 Concert in the Birkelunden park
18:15–21:00 Dinner at Skansen (pay for yourself)
Venues
SNL’s office
Grensen 3
Wednesday dinner
Ekebergrestauranten
Kongsveien 15
Thursday dinner
Vippa
Akershusstranda 25
Contact us
The meeting is organised by Kjersti Kanestrøm Lie, Mina Hennum Mohseni and Erik Bolstad at the Great Norwegian Encyclopedia.
Contact Kjersti: +47 404 94 211, kjersti at snl dot no
Contact Mina: +47 934 37 348, mina at snl dot no
Contact Erik: +47 911 31 091, erik at snl dot no
Previous conferences
European & International Encyclopedia Conference 2022
The Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography organised the 2022 conference in Zagreb in October.
See the programme, booklet and images
European Encyclopedia Meetup 2020
The Great Norwegian Encyclopedia (SNL) invited all encyclopedias of the world to an informal video meetup on December 1st 2020. 65 people from 14 organisations in 12 countries attended the meetup.
European Encyclopedia Conference 2019
The first European Encyclopedia Conference was held in Brussels. The Great Norwegian Encyclopedia (SNL), in cooperation with the European Parliamentary Research Service and The Mission of Norway to the European Union, organised the event, which we believe was the largest meetup of encyclopedias from Europe and North America ever.
The European encyclopedias have a long and rich history. This is how Denis Diderot – the principal editor of the Encyclopédie – described an encyclopedia’s mission in 1755. It is still valid – 269 years later.
Indeed, the purpose of an encyclopedia is to collect knowledge disseminated around the globe; to set forth its general system to the men with whom we live, and transmit it to those who will come after us, so that the work of preceding centuries will not become useless to the centuries to come; and so that our offspring, becoming better instructed, will at the same time become more virtuous and happy, and that we should not die without having rendered a service to the human race in the future years to come.
Denis Diderot in Encyclopédie (1755), translated by Philip Stewart