Kirjandusmuuseumi ja humanitaarteaduste ümber toimunud avalik diskussioon astatel 1967-1968
The public debate around the Estonian Literary Museum and the humanities in 1967–1968

Summary/Abstract: The article recollects a debate between humanities scholars published in two Estonian newspapers – Sirp ja Vasar and Edasi – in 1967 and 1968. One of the main issues was the prospective implementation of computers and information technology in the preservation of humnities collections as well as in data processing and retrieval in the Estonian SSR. The other hub of the discussion was the Fr. R. Kreutzwald National Literay Museum at the ESSR Academy of Sciences and its folklore department (Estonian Folklore Archives), also touching upon the problems and functions of the collections and personnel of other departments of the museum. The prevailing results of the debate were that humanities should necessarily be encouraged to cooperate with information technology, possibly with the help of a prospective centre of information sciences, while manual handling of data and collections should be reorganised providing for a conversion to computer-based technologies. As for the Literary Museum, the debate explicated the needs of both the museum staff and the users of its collections, as well as the activities necessary to facilitate the arrangement and accessibility of the collections, including cooperation with other humanities institutions. Notably, the public debate of 50 years ago reveals some interesting parallels between the then problems of uniting the forces of the humanities and information technology and the present-day field of digital humanities, considering the demand for it as well as its developmental requirements.

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