institutet för språk och folkminnen (Isof) (The Institute for Language and Folklore)
Website
https://www.isof.se/Contact
Email: registrator@isof.seTel: +46 (0) 200-28 33 33 (exchange)
Address: Isof, Box 135, 751 04 Uppsala, Sweden (For visiting addresses, we have several locations. See other information on our website: https://www.isof.se/)
Government authority with archives, holding collections of names, dialects and folklore, including music material from all over the country as well as some from Swedish-speaking areas abroad. More information can be found on the Institute's pages in English.
Isof's task is to carefully preserve language and, on a scientific basis, bring new life to language, and increase and disseminate knowledge about languages, dialects, folklore, names and other intangible cultural heritage in Sweden.
The institute has archive and research departments in Gothenburg and Uppsala. The departments are also responsible for archival collections in Lund (at the Arkivcentrum Syd) and Umeå (at Västerbottens Museum).
The archival collections are available to the public and contain large collections of folk songs, music and dance from different parts of the country. The collections include both written and audio material, such as musical notations, song texts, handwritten songbooks, interviews, questionnaire answers, photographs, dance descriptions and recordings of live music.
Web Resources
On Isof's website, under the menu, there is an overview under "Arkiv och insamling" [Archives and collection], that describes the archives' music collections. There are also examples of a couple of collections as well as links to listening examples and web exhibitions: www.isof.se/
Examples of in-depth material:
Einar Övergaards folkmusiksamling [folk music collection]. www.isof.se
Joiksamlingar showing the rich variation of Sami yoik. www.isof.se
Our website includes the database Hitta folkmusiken [Find folk music], which mainly includes material from Västra Götaland, mostly recordings from Bohuslän, Dalsland and Västergötland, which are searchable on the Hitta folkmusiken map. All recordings are digitised. Due to copyright issues, only a small portion can be listened to via the web. There are opportunities to listen at the departments in Gothenburg and Uppsala. www.isof.se/
Genres
- Instrumental Folk Music
- Materials for Specific Instruments
- Vocal Folk Music
- Folk Dance
- Other
Geographic Provenances
- Nordic Countries (other than Sweden)
- Europe (other than Nordic countries)
- World (other than Europe)
Types of Archival Material
- Audio Recordings
- Moving Image Recordings
- Manuscripts
- Printed Sheet Music
- Printed Texts
- Other