Description
The University of Economics – Varna was founded in 1920 and is the second university in Bulgaria and the first economics university in the country. The university library was also founded in 1920 and it owns a large collection of over 300 000 tonnes of scientific literature. The library is the university memory, the memory of the scientific development of renowned Bulgarian scientists, who have contributed to the development of the economics science in Bulgaria. The overall objective of the project consists in the digitization and conservation of the archive collection of the library and the history of the university as an integrated part of the cultural and scientific history of the country, providing easy access for students, academic staff and larger community. It will be achieved by the establishment of a modern digital centre where the library collection will be digitized, also with Roma students’ participation. Furthermore, specialized software will be purchased, adapted and integrated for easy use of the digitized archive fund. Also the staff involved in the maintenance of the digital centre will be trained. The expected project results are the establishment of a digital centre, digitization of approx. 3400 documents of the collection, which represents a collection of the publications of lecturers at the university since the establishment up to now (3000 textbooks, collections, monographs and 400 reports, articles, photos, representing the history of university). These consist of 752 000 pages. Access will be provided for all stakeholders to the digitized documents with modern and comfortable software. The Norwegian partner, Oppland County Library, will cooperate and share best practices in the area of digitization of library funds, offering know-how and organized visits to Norwegian libraries and training of Bulgarian experts.
Summary of project results
The University library of the UE-Varna is one of the most modern libraries in Bulgaria known about its modern vision, technical equipment and technology of treatment and conservation of the funds and service to the users. The main objective of the project implementation is digitization and conservation of the archive fund of the library and the university history as part of the cultural - historical and scientific history of the country and its supply for use by students, lecturers, scientists and researchers as well as by the larger community. The results of the project implementation are directly connected with the planned activities: the building and the supplementary technical and software equipment of the Digitization centre at the university library, into an autonomous premises, created significantly better conditions while the process of creation of digital content and its supply to use by the library users and the larger community. The main mission of the centre is to create and assist to the conservation and the access to the scientific content. Digitalization of the Library's Archive fund - 3406 library items have been digitalized - handbooks, collections, monographies, articles, reports, pictures, reports etc. of the Library archive fund and the 96-years history of the university. The digitization of the materials will ensure their long-term conservation and will give the opportunity to maintain their online access which will definitely ease up the work and the preparation of students and lecturers from UE-Varna as well as all those who study or need access to the full content of literature in the area of economics, management, informatics, marketing as well as other scientific areas at the university. Particularly elaborated web based platform which ensures quick and comfortable use of the digitalized "Archive fund" as well as of the rest of the library fund. The internet address of the platform is the following:
http://library.ue-varna.bg.
Summary of bilateral results
The partner institution Regional Library Opland, Norway has demonstrated full co-operation and commitment to the project implementation. Opland Regional Library actively is participated in the organization of the expert visit to Norway scheduled for September 2015. The Partner Library helped to make contact with the relevant institutions provided in the program of the expert visit. The active partnership was carried out through the visits of the experts of the project team at the National Library in Oslo, National Digitization Centre in Mo-i-Rana, Regional Digitization Centre and the Oppland County Library, Norway, and getting to know the experience and good practices of activities in the area of digitization. It is prepared a Guidebook for the activities of the digitization centre (in Bulgarian and in English). The Norwegian partners prepared and carried out a training for good practices and the specificities connected with the processes for creation of digitalized collections and their use by the larger community.