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The aim of this article is to analyse the identity-making role played by the maritime factor in promoting the international picture of the young Finnish republic by using the case study of the frigate Suomen Joutsen on its international voyages from 1931 to 1939. The rituals of naval diplomacy meant that the political, diplomatic and commercial authorities of the nations visited were brought on board the ship and contacts were made with the recently established Finnish consular network. In addition to such contacts, the extensive use of the press and radio was an important factor in promoting the young Finnish republic. Moreover, in countries with important communities of Finnish emigrants, contacts were made with those groups. Finally, with a floating exhibition of Finnish products on board, it was possible to establish commercial relations. Hence, the international cruises of the Suomen Joutsen were fundamental channels for the representation of the young Finnish nation.

To facilitate discovery of premodern manuscripts in U.S. memory institutions, Digital Scriptorium, a growing consortium of over 35 institutional members representing American libraries, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions, has developed a digital platform for an online national union catalog. The platform will allow low-barrier and efficient collection, aggregation, and enrichment of member metadata and sustainably publish it as Linked Open Data. This article describes the methods and principles behind the data model development and the decision to use Wikibase. The results of the prototype implementation and testing phase demonstrate the practicality and sustainability of Digital Scriptorium’s approach to building an online national union catalog based on Linked Open Data technologies and practices.

This article examines the historical representation of the Siren myth and how it is employed by Spanish musician Christina Rosenvinge in her song ‘Mi vida bajo el agua’ (2011) (‘My life under water’) and its music video. Rosenvinge criticizes various moral beliefs attached to the myth, and this article's focus is specifically on these beliefs, which are analysed using a narrative ethics approach. This field aims to understand how narratives take shape and are repeated in different forms, thus enabling us to transform our understanding of the previous comprehension of the narrative. The methodological frame of narrative ethics is connected to feminist theories and the field of gender history in this article, which provides an opportunity to examine the changing meanings and beliefs around the Siren myth over time in an ethically significant way. This case study intends to illustrate the value of applying narrative ethics to research in cultural history since it helps us to understand how the narrative can articulate power relations and at the same time shape our understanding of the possible.