The National Encyclopedia of Latvia. Searching for new approaches Dr. hist. Valters Ščerbinskis Editor-in-chief

Recent history of the universal encyclopedias in Latvia 1980s – last Soviet-era encyclopedia. Traditional methodology, totalitarian content Early 1990s – bankruptcy of the state-owned editorial office 2014 – decision to start «the project of the Latvian encyclopedia» at the Ministry of Culture which soon developed into the National encyclopedia 2015 – vision, principles and methodolocial approach has been created, editorial office starts to operate 2018 – opening of digital universal encyclopedia and publication of the special volume on Latvia

The National Encyclopedia is part of the National Library of Latvia

Why encyclopedia? Educational objective: eternal search for the knowledge Cultural objective: survival and development of the language Security dimension: provides easily accessible and trustful source of the information for the widest audience possible Entertainment element: many people just enjoy surfing encyclopedias

What kind of encyclopedia? Universal (general) Academic Electronic (and carefully made decision about printed version, if capacity allows) Modern in technologies and design State-owned; efficient in budgetary issues Transparent and logical in decision-making process With the very long-term vision

What do we need for the encyclopedic co-operation and/or pan-european approach in order to promote information we can trust? Answer is very simple: Ambitious vision Long-term strategy Clear tactics Few dedicated people (certain amount of) money