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Doran 1
DeirdreDoran January23th,2011May2010TravelCourse Prague,CzechRepublicSILSUNC‐ChapelHill,NC ProfessorBarbaraWildemuth
TheCzechNationalLibraryandtheDigitizationofCulturalHeritageMaterials
I.Introduction:
Thecreationofonlinedigitalrepositorieshasrapidlybecomeapriorityfor
librariesandarchives,includingtheNationalLibraryoftheCzechRepublic(NLCR)
inordertofulfilltheessentialtasksofpreservingandprovidingaccesstoholdings
ofculturalheritagematerials.Theculturalheritageofacountryorpeoplegenerally
includes:“manuscripts,archivalmaterials,cartographicmaterial,printedmusic
documents,pictures,photographs,andaudiovisualdocumentsinconventionaland
electronicformat”(Poll,2008,p.167).Thesematerialsdocumentthesharedhistory
ofagroupthatconsidersthesephysicalmanifestationsoftheirheritagetobetheir
mutualpropertythatmustbepreservedandmadeavailabletoallmembersofthe
group.CulturalheritageinstitutionsliketheNLCRarecurrentlytakingappropriate
measures,suchasdigitization,toensurethatthesematerialsarepreservedand
accessibletodayandinthefuture.Digitization is the “the process by which analogue
content is converted into a sequence of 1s and 0s and put into a binary code to be
readable by a computer” (Hughes, 2004, p. 4). Other important cultural materials are
born digital, or originate in digital form. Both digitized and born digital materials are
part of the digital heritage (Hughes, 2004; Mallan 2006).
Inastudyonnationallibrarywebsites,Pisanski&Zumer(2005)determined
thattheinclusionofdigitalcollectionsis“animportantpartofamaturenational
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librarywebsite”andthat“inthefuturethisiswhatmostoftheuserswillbelooking
for”(p.57).Theglobalproliferationofdigitizationprojectscarriedoutbylibraries,
archives,andmuseumsaddressesthedemandoftheinternetusersofthis
informationsocietyforthecreationofonlineculturalheritagerepositoriesasthe
optimalformofaccessibility.Librariansnote“an increasing impatience (or,
occasionally disdain) for manual searching” (James-Gilboe, 2005, p. 156) among
researchers, and the abandonment of microfilming services in favor of digitization by
almost all conservation supply companies. Althoughmanydifferenttypesof
institutionsparticipateindigitizationofculturalheritageitems,theInternational
FederationofLibraryAssociations(IFLA)recognizestheimportanceofnational
librariesinthiscapacity:
[n]ationallibrarieshavespecialresponsibilities,oftendefinedbylaw,foracountry’s cultural heritage. They collect and preserve the national documentary heritage and provide and ensure permanent access to the knowledge and culture of the past and present. They develop central service and take a leading role in the library and information sector. (Poll, 2008, p.164)
As the leaders in the field of library and information services in a country, national
libraries must provide an example of how best to ensure access to collections of cultural
heritage materials through online digital repositories.
The National Library of the Czech Republic is a leader in the field of digital
content production and management in the European Union and in the world. Various
programs initiated by UNESCO and the EU Commission on Information and
Communication Technologies have aided the Czech Republic in their digitization
projects that have included participation in the Memory of the World Programme, and the
current creation of the a National Digital Library (NDK). The NDK consists of the
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digital repositories Kramerius, Manuscriptorium, and the WebArchiv, all of which are
created and managed by the Czech National Library. These repositories also provide
content for larger European digital repositories, such as The European Library (TEL) and
Europeana. The future of digitization is largely unknown, with variables such as funding
and advancing digital preservation technologies coming into play to create a challenging
environment for institutions dedicated to preserving and providing access to cultural
heritage materials. The NL CR is determined to meet those challenges and maintain the
highest quality national digital library in order to provide users with long-term access to
the cultural heritage of the Czech Republic.
II. History of the Czech National Library
The National Library of the Czech Republic (NLCR) was officially founded in
1777 with the consolidation of various historic library collections (David & Kasinec,
2001, p. 583). The oldest of these collections, dating back to 1348, is the Carolinum
Library of Prague University, later renamed Charles University after its founder Emperor
Charles IV (Marvanová,2009,p.17). The original Carolinum Library collection
includes the personal manuscript codices of Emperor Charles IV, which were accessioned
in 1366 (Balik, 1995, pp. 84-87). The collection of another university in Prague, the
Klementinum, is also a prominent component of the current NLCR. The Klementinum
was established by the Jesuit order in Prague in 1556 in an effort to curb the growth of
the Utraquist movement in Prague. When this Protestant political movement was
defeated in the 1620s the Carolinum and Klementinum library collections were merged at
the Klementinum (Balik, 1995, pp 84-87). Charles University later established a “New
Carolinum” to serve its students, particularly in the fields of law and medicine. This New
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Carolinum was first open to the general public in 1726, and witnessed steady grown in
acquisitions and organization during the rest of the century. After the dissolution of the
Jesuits and the Society of Jesus by Pope Clement XIV, the Old Carolinum library was
taken over by the state in 1777, and renamed The Royal Imperial Public and University
Library by Empress Maria Theresa (Davis & Kasinec, 2001, 583; Marvanová,2009,p.
17). Since this time, the library has not been officially affiliated with any university,
although often the word university has been in its title, with the collections heavily
utilized by students in Prague’s university system.
In 1781 the head librarians at the NL, Karel Rafael Ungar, established the
Bibliotheca nationalis, a collection of books written by Czechs, printed in Czech lands,
and largely in the Czech language (Davis & Kasinec, 2001, 584). Ungar also
encouraged voluntary legal deposit of all Czech books, an institution which was legally
enforced in 1807 by the Hapsburg Empire, with obligatory legal deposit of all books
printed in Czech lands to the NLCR. Legal deposit facilitated the creation and continued
maintenance of a union catalogue of all Czech books, providing the library the role as
bibliographic center for the Czech Republic. The title of National Library was officially
conferred on the library in 1990, following the end of Communist rule. The library’s
collections survived two World Wars and the Communist era largely intact, although
many of the countries resources were off limits to the general public during the majority
of the 20th century. Currently the library holds around 6.5 million items including:
14,000 manuscripts and rare books, 4,200 incunabulas, and 200,000 old prints (Hutar,
2010). The collections are dispersed around Prague in different University libraries,
monasteries and aristocratic libraries.
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III. Functions and Roles of the Czech National Library: History of National Library Roles and Functions:
A consensus on the operational definition of a national library is difficult to
achieve. National libraries can vary widely in size, collections coverage, acquisitions
methods, as well as the functions, roles and services they offer to meet the information
needs of a country. Maurice Line is often quoted for his amusing analogy of national
libraries and dogs: “dogs also exhibit an enormous variety, but we somehow recognize
them all as dogs” (Line, 2001, p. 44). National libraries are generally recognizable as
such due to the sign over the entrance, but what precisely the library offers can differ
dramatically from country to country.
Historically, national libraries have been defined by the functions they carry out
(Humphreys, 1966; Line, 1980, 1988,1989). Following discussions with various
International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) representatives, Humphreys
(1966, pp. 159-165) outlined seven essential functions of a national library:
The outstanding and central collection of a nation’s literature Legal deposit Coverage of foreign literature Publication of the national bibliography National bibliographical information centre Publication of catalogues Exhibitions
Humphreys concludes that the national library “should be the prime mover in library
matters and should be expected to be the leading library in all fields” (1966, p. 169). This
central mandate, that the national library be the head of library services in a country,
dictates that the actions of this library serve as a model for the library system of a
country. Therefore, the national library should be at the forefront in library services and
innovation in the field of library sciences, now including digitization projects.
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Maurice Line began an active reassessment of Humphrey’s list of essential
functions in the 1980s, redefining the most important function of national libraries as the
provision of national information and document supply (1980, p. 1). Line worked to
create a revised list of national library functions, culminating in his 1989 list (p. 307):
Collection and preservation of documents of national interest and importance
Bibliographic needs: creation of and access to records of publications Document provision: the national resource Access to publications Exchange of publications Access to information Services to libraries and information units Leadership and advice to libraries and information units Planning and coordination Education and training Research and development
Line, then the Director General of the British Library Lending Division, was a leading
voice in the study of national libraries, publishing extensively in the field and creating a
journal, Alexandria: the journal of national and international library and information
issues. His focus on lending and document supply by national libraries marks the
transition to the modern conception of national libraries providing access to information
both in the physical national library building itself as well as at other venues.
The emphasis on access evident in Lines’ 1989 list of functions for national
libraries is of central importance for library service today. Recent attempts to a provide a
standard definition for national libraries continue to focus on what functions the library
fills as well as what role the library plays in a country (IFLA, 2009; ISO 2789, 2006; ISO
28118, 2009; Line, 2001; Poll, 2008). The ISO standard (2008) for library statistics
contains the following definition for a national library:
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National library = library that is responsible for acquiring and conserving copies of all relevant documents in the country in which the library is located; it may function as a legal deposit library. A national library will also normally perform some or all of the following functions: produce the national bibliography, hold and keep up to date a large and representative collection of foreign literature including documents about the country; act as a national bibliographic information centre; compile union catalogues; supervise the administration of other libraries and/or promote collaboration; coordinate a research and development service, etc.
Thisisthecurrentoperatingdefinitionofanationallibraryapprovedbythe
internationalstandardscommunity.
TheNationalLibraryoftheCzechRepublicisgovernedundertheMinistryof
Culture,SectionofLiteratureandLibraries.InthissectiontheMinistryofCulture:
“fulfillsthetaskasacentralbodyofstateadministrationfortheareaofliterature,
bookculture,non‐periodicalprintandlibrarianship”(Marvanová,2009,p.12).The
rolesandfunctionoftheCzechNationalLibraryaregovernedbytheDecreeofthe
MinisterofCultureoftheCzechRepublicnr.7/2002of25thFebruary2002.This
StatuteoutlinestheprincipalpurposeoftheNLCR,whichisinlinewiththerole
detailedaboveforallnationallibraries.ThemajorlawgoverningCzechLibrariesis
Nr.257/2001,whichisknownattheLibraryLaw(MinistryofCulture,2002).This
lawdecreesthat:
the National Library is a library with universal library holdings completed with specialized collections, which permanently keeps a preservation collection and a historical one. The National Library guarantees for all an equal access to public library and information services as well as to other services provided by the National Library.
The Decree is easily accessible through the NLCR website in both Czech and English
languages, allowing diverse global citizens to understand the purpose of the NLCR.
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The Decree also outlines the functions the library will perform in order to meet
the purpose of the Library Law for the National Library. Some of these functions
paraphrased from the decree include:
a) it acquires, processes, protects, makes accessible, and preserves a universal library collection of documents published in the Czech Republic b) selectively, it acquires, processes, preserves, and makes accessible a collection of documents published abroad, oriented on needs of universities and scientific and specialized establishments, especially in the field of social and natural sciences, culture and arts with special reference to Bohemical documents, e) it acquires library documents by means of legal deposit copy, purchase, donation and exchange, including international exchange of documents m) it guarantees preservation of library holdings, and restores and preserves things of cultural character, especially from the field of book culture, n) it makes the works accessible via computer network, a) digitization and transfer of documents onto microfilm
It is observable that the National Library of the Czech Republic attempts to follow
international guidelines for the role and functions of national libraries in general. It also
states the intent to use digitization as a means of preservation and providing access to the
important information resources held by the library.
Digitization and the Fulfillment of National Library Functions:
In order to fulfill the functions of preserving and providing access to the cultural
heritage of a country, national libraries are opting to digitize collections. The number of
resources published concerning the creation and maintenance of digital collections is
robust and growing rapidly. The literature invariably includes a section or chapter on the
benefits of digitization that expounds upon the central tenet of digitization— it increases
access to materials (Sitts, 2000; Hughes, 2004; Mallan, 2006; Rieger, 2008). Digital
materials held by national libraries are accessible through any connection to the internet.
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This eliminates prohibitive physical distances between users and analogue collections.
Collections are always “open” online as well; users do not have to wait for building
operation hours or for staff members to retrieve materials from closed stack sections.
The online interfaces through which materials are retrieved can also increase access by
“searching and cross-collection indexing, afford[ing] the reader the opportunity to make
new uses of traditional research resources” (Sitts, 2000, p. 6). Digital images can often
be enlarged, brightened or otherwise enhanced to highlight details that would be difficult
to see on the original document without exposing the document to unacceptable
environmental conditions. This points out another advantage of digitization— it can
decrease the necessity of handling fragile original documents that could be harmed by
physical handling: “given the current state of analogue media deterioration, creating
surrogate copies of a heritage collection is a far better alternative than losing all
documentary evidence of that heritage” (Mallan, 2006, p. 216).
The goals of preserving and providing access to materials, as highlighted by Line
(1989) are the basis for recent studies assessing how national libraries can meet this
mission through the use of technology, especially digitization. Pisanski & Zumer (2005)
examine the websites of national libraries to determine if and to what extent library
websites help fulfill the mission of national libraries. The authors conclude that the
future of library services is on the internet through the inclusion of digital collections.
The large number of case studies documenting individual national library’s attempts at
digitization highlight the recent explosion of projects in this area, for example: Drijfhout
(2007), Marcum (2007), Katuscak (2007), and Andresoo (2009). Each of these studies
points out the importance of digitization for meeting the goals of national libraries to
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preserve and provide access to the cultural heritage of a country.
ManydepartmentswiththeNationalLibraryworktogethertoensurethelong‐
termpreservationofdigitalanddigitizedmaterials,aswellaspreparematerialsfor
publicaccessandassistwiththecontinuedaccessibilityofmaterials.Someofthese
departmentsandtheirfunctionsaslistedontheNLwebsitearehereoutlined:
2.2.5 Preservation Microfilming Department: provides microfilming of historical, archival and universal collections for their permanent preservation. 2.2.6 Digitization Department: provides digitization of archival and universal collections to preserve make them accessible. It provides the organizational backup for KRAMERIUS National Programme of Preservation Reformatting. 3.4 Photoduplication and Digitization Department: provides preservation and study reformatting of original historical and music documents and provides access to historical and music documents through digital network. 3.6 Manuscriptorium Section: coordinates the content of the Manuscriptorium Digital Library, strategizes further development, and coordinates building the virtual research environment for work with historical collections. 10.6 Digital Preservation Division: responsible for professional activities connected with permanent preservation and accessibility of digital documents. 10.6.1 Web Archiving Department: responsible for registration, preservation, selection and accessibility of the domestic web sources. 10.6.2 Central Digital Repository Section: cooperates in creating and implementing development of CDR and the NL long-term digital preservation. 10.6.3 Section for Standardizing and Coordination of Digital Preservation Processes: responsible for analysing, implementing, support and development of standards in CDR (formats of metadata, unambiguous identifiers, suitable image data formats, costs for long- term preservation of individual types of data etc.). It monitors new trends in this field and implements them in repository operation and cooperation in the whole NL.
As can be seen from this extensive list of departments involved in digitization at the
Czech National Library, this is considered a vital and varied function of the library.
Currently,theCzechNationalLibrarymicrofilmsallperiodicalsandthen
digitallyscansthemicrofilm.Thisprocessmaychangeinthefuturedependant
upontheviableforlong‐termdigitalpreservation.Allmaterialsaremicrofilmedat
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theHostivardepositoryoftheNationalLibrary,whichisalargestorageandwork
facilitylocatedoutsideofPrague.Anarchivalmasterofeachmicrofilmismade,and
alsoseveralusecopiesfordigitalscanninganduseraccess.Thelibraryiscurrently
intheprocessofdevelopingastate‐of‐the‐artmassdigitizationcenter,contingent
uponincomingEuropeanUnionfundsandsupportoftheCzechMinistryofCulture.
IV.DigitizationProjectsattheCzechNationalLibraryMemoryoftheWorld
WorkondigitizationofculturalheritagematerialsintheCzechRepublic
beganinthemid‐1990swiththeaimofpreservation,butalsowiththeadvantages
ofaccessandsharinginformationwithusersasasecondaryfocus(Hutar,2010).In
1992UNESCOinvitedtheCzechRepublictoparticipateinitsMemoryoftheWorld
Programme,aglobalprojecttodigitizeculturalheritagematerials(Psohlavec&
Karen,2006,93).ThroughtheMemoryoftheWorldProgrammetheCzechNational
LibrarysucceededincompletelydigitizingtheAntiphonariumSedlecense,a13th
centuryCzechmusicbookbyAntifonarSedlecky.Thiswasthefirstmedieval
manuscripttobedigitizedintheworld(Hutar,2010).ThroughtheMemoryofthe
WorldProgramme,thedigitizedmaterialsweremadeavailableonCD‐ROM,and
disseminatedthroughouttheCzechRepublicandtheworld.
TheMemoryoftheWorldprojectwasanessentialfirststepinestablishinga
digitizationprogramintheCzechRepublic.Itfacilitatedthesetupadigitization
departmentattheCzechNationalLibraryandcreatedaprecedentforfuture
digitizationeffortsinthecountry(Hutar,2010).Itallowedforthetestingofnew
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technologiesfordatabasestructure,interfacesettings,andfileformattingincluding
compression,resolutionandmetadatastandards.Rapidtechnologicaladvancesfast
outpacedthedeliverymethodofCD‐ROMthough,andfutureprojectsneededtofind
anewmediumforincreasedaccessibility.AlbertinaicomePrague,thecompany
responsiblefordigitalscanningandtechnicalsupportfortheNationalLibrary,
decidedtopreparefuturedigitizationprojectsusingHTMLandSGMLfileswhich
weresoftwareplatformindependentinordertoincreaseflexibilityandeaseof
accessforfutureprojects(Psohlavec&Karen,2006,p.94).OveralltheUNESCO
projectwasdeemedagoodwaytolearnaboutinternationalstandardsandcreate
andassessnationalgoalsfordigitization(Hutar,2010).
DuringtheMemoryoftheWorldProgramme,theCzechRepublicwasan
activeleaderinthefieldofdigitization,andalthoughithassincefallenbehindin
output,theNationalLibrarymaintainsahighlevelofqualityandorganizational
knowledgeofdigitizationprocesses(Hutar,2010).TheCzechNationalLibrarynow
maintainsaNationalDigitalLibrary(NDK)withthreemainprojects:Kramerius,
ManuscriptoriumandWebArchiv.ThemainobjectiveofKrameriusisthe
digitizationofperiodicalsandmonographsfromthe19thcentury.Manuscriptorium
focusesonhistoricalbooks.TheWebArchivworkstopreserveandprovideaccess
toborndigitalwebcontentproducedintheCzechRepublic.Theseprojectsutilize
systemsdesignedtointegratewithotherEuropeanandglobaldigitallibrariessuch
asTheEuropeanLibrary(TEL)whichcombinesresourcesfrom35European
NationalLibrariesandEuropeana,whichintegratesdatabasesfrommanyEuropean
culturalheritageinstitutions.
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Kramerius
“Themainaimsoftheprojectaretodigitiseandsubsequentlymake
accessiblefirstthemodernperiodicalsandmonographsandthereafteralsoother
documentscomprisingthenationalculturalheritage(Fortyn,2009).”The
Krameriusprojectstartedin1997asacooperativeeffortbetweentheNational
LibraryandthethreelargestCzechregionallibraries(Hutar,2010).TheNational
Libraryaimedtopreserveandprovideaccesstomodernbohemicaldocuments
printedonacidicpaper,whichweremostly19thand20thcenturynewspapersinbad
conditionandthereforeunavailabletolibraryusers(Hutar,2010).Thestaffofthe
Krameriusprogramareable“to[micro]filmabout1,000,000pagesofdocuments
annuallyandtodigitizeupto400,000ofthem”(Marvanová,2009,p.20). Todayall
thedigitizeddocumentscreatedbefore1900arefreelyavailablethroughthe
KrameriusDigitalLibraryonline(http://kramerius.qbizm.cz).Morecurrent
documentsmustbeviewedonsiteattheNationalLibraryduetocopyright
restrictions.Alldigitizedmaterialshaveembeddedmetadataavailableforfulltext
search,pageturningfeature,andtheoptiontosaveaspdf.Between2001‐2004
about400periodicaltitlesweredigitized(4,000,000pagesfrom35institutions)
andthemostup‐to‐datefiguresfornumberoftotaldigitizeddocumentsis
7,000,000(Hutar,2010).
DigitizedmaterialsarestoredandaccessedthroughtheKrameriussystem,
whichisaContentManagementSystem(CMS).ItwasdevelopedbytheNLCRusing
anopensourceGNUGPLlicense(Fortyn,2009).Furtherdevelopmentofthesystem
hasbeenhandledbytheQzbimcompany(http://www.qbizm.com).Sincethe
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systemisopensourceallotherinstitutionsinterestedinthesourcecodeutilizedby
theNLCRarewelcometoviewandborrowfromthecode.Thistypeofinitiative
enablesmultipleinstitutionstocreatesystemsthatcanbeintegratedorcross‐
walkedeasily,facilitatinguniversalaccesstotheculturalheritagedocuments.The
KrameriussystemisconnectedtoTheEuropeanLibrary(TEL),theCZunioncatalog
andEuropeana,withanEnglishinterface.Currently,theNLCRisintheprocessof
movingtoFedoraSWversion4whichallowsmoreflexibilityofdocumenttypes,isa
widelyacceptedopensourcesoftware,andofferstheexperiencedcustomersupport
whichthelibraryneeds(Hutar,2010).
Manuscriptorium
ManuscriptoriumistheCzechdigitallibraryofmanuscripts,earlyprinted
books,andothershistoricmaterialssuchasmaps,chartersandprintedmusical
documents(Hutar,2010).ThenameManuscriptoriumrefersbothtothe
digitizationprogramandthedigitallibraryitself.Theprojectbeganin2001when
digitalimagesofmaterialswerefirstcreatedandthumbnailimagesmadeavailable
forthegeneralpublictoviewontheinternet(Hutar,2010).Contentfor
ManuscriptoriumiscreatedbytheCzechNationalLibraryandmanagedjointlywith
theCzechcompanyAipBerounLtd.,whichalsodoesoperationandsystemtool
design(Knoll,2009).By2004,highqualityimageswereonline,and
ManuscriptoriumwasawardedthefirstUNESCOJikjiAwardin2005.“ThePrize
consistingofanawardofUS$30,000isawardedeverytwoyearstoindividualsor
institutionsthathavemadesignificantcontributionstothepreservationand
accessibilityofdocumentaryheritage(UNESCO,2010).”Manuscriptoriumplayeda
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prominentroleintheCzechRepublic’sreceiptofthisprestigiousawardforits
innovationindigitizationofculturalheritage(Psohlavec&Karen,2006,p.95).
Beginningin2007,theNLCRbecamethemaincoordinatorintheEU
programENRICH(EuropeanNetworkingResourcesandInformationConcerning
CulturalHeritage).Theproject,whichwascompleted in 2009, involved 18 partner
institutions across Europe with the goal “to create the foundation for a European digital
library of manuscripts and other historical documents” (National Library of the Czech
Republic, 2010, p. 6). The project was successful in aggregating the majority of digitized
historical documents in the European Union. Although themajorityofEuropean
writtenculturalheritageisnotavailableontheinternet,almostallresourceswhich
havebeendigitizedintheEUarenowavailablethroughManuscriptorium.When
theprojectbeganin2007, “Manuscriptorium contained roughly 180,000 catalogue
entries, something over 3,000 fully digitised documents and approximately 350 full
texts…now it has more than 250,000 catalogued records, almost 37,000 fully digitised
documents and more than 41,000 full texts” (National Library of the Czech Republic,
2010, p. 7). The ENRICH project was successful in greatly increasing the digital
resources available online, not only in the Czech Republic, but in the EU as a whole.
AlthoughManuscriptoriumaccessoriginallyrequiredasubscriptionfee,this
feehasbeensuspendedsince2007.Researchersmustsimplyregisterwiththesite
andagreetoalicensingstatementtoaccessManuscriptorium’sresources.
Manuscriptoriumbringstogetherdataandmetadatafrom46partnersbyusinga
varietyofopensourcesoftwareandinternationalstandardsforinformation
systemsincluding:OAI‐PMH,Z39.50,TEI5,METSwithMaster+,MARC21,Dublin
Doran 16
Core,MODS,andOpenM(Hutar,2010).Theuserinterfaceforreadingandstudying
ofdigitalimageshastheabilitytosearch,turnpages,fulltext,OCR,makenotes,and
savesearchesinapersonallibraryfolder(Hutar,2010).Thepresentopensource
softwareusedbyManuscriptoriummeetsitsinitialgoalsofprovidingthegreatest
accesstohistoricaldocumentsbyallowingfordivergentuseofmetadatafields
accordingtoinstitutionalvariationsinexpertise,subjectfocus,anddigitization
purpose(Psohlavec&Karen,2006,p.95).Theaccessibility,usability,and
adaptabilityoftheManuscriptoriumplatformwasextensivelytestedandevaluated
duringitscreationinordertodetermineitsfullfunctionalityandversatility
(Kligiene,2009).TheManuscriptoriumhomepageprominentlyinvitesother
libraries,archives,andinformationinstitutionstoutilizetheirmetadataandopen
sourcesoftwaresolutionsinordertocarryoutdigitizationprojectsandpotentially
contributehistoricalmanuscriptstotheManuscriptoriumdatabase.
WebArchiv WebArchiv is an online digital archive of Czech web resources collected for long-term
preservation and public access. The project began in 2000 under the direction of the
Czech Ministry of Culture. The WebArchiv ensures that born digital cultural heritage
materials, available solely on the internet, will be accessible to future generations. The
National Library now collaborates with the MoravianLibraryandInstituteof
ComputerScienceofMasarykUniversity(WebArchiv,2010) to collect, preserve, and
provide access to:
DigitaldocumentsfreelyavailableviaInternetPublicationswithresearchandartisticfocus,newsandcurrentaffairs
Doran 17
Periodicals,monographs,conferencepapers,researchandotherreports,scholarlypublications,etc.
Textual,andtosomeextentalsovisualandsound,documentsexistingonlyindigitalformat
Tools developed by the Internet Archive, and the International Internet Preservation
Consortium (IIPC) are used for web archiving. “From a technical point of view,
collecting online documents is an automated process carried out by a set of software tools
that harvest, index and save data in the archive according to preassigned parameters. At
present open-source software tool (Heritrix) is being used for web crawling”
(WebArchiv, 2010). The harvested content maintains standardized structural metadata
approved by the IIPC and is stored using RAID (dedicated redundant disk array). The
materials that are harvested are accessible through full text indexing carried out using an
open source program called Nutch. Not all born digital materials are publically available
online due to complex copyright restrictions in the Czech Republic; although the National
Library has legal deposit for all Czech published materials, this provision does not cover
materials published online therefore restricting the ability of the NLCR to provide access
to these resources free of charge. WebArchiv materials are catalogued using MARC21
and Dublin Core and will be preserved to ensure long-term use and hopefully eventual
amendment to the copyright laws covering born digital content.
TheEuropeanLibrary(TEL) TheEuropeanLibraryisadigitallibrarythatprovidesaccessto48of
Europe’snationallibrariesin35differentlanguages.Themissionofthedigital
library,prominentonthewebsite(www.theeuropeanlibrary.org)is: “to open up the
universe of knowledge, information and cultures of all Europe's national libraries.” TEL
was established in 2005 through European Commission funding and has since carried out
Doran 18
several major initiatives to promote the creation and inclusion of digital content from
Europe’s national libraries (Foltyn, 2010, p. 39.). The NLCR participated in a recent TEL
project, TELplus, which concluded in 2009. TELplus“aimedtoOCRmorethan20
millionpagesofcontentinmanylanguages,tomakelibrarydataOAIcompliantand
thereforeharvestable,toaddressusabilityissuesthroughimprovedpresentationof
searchresultsandtomakeimprovementsinsemanticinteroperabilityincluding
multilingualsearchandretrieval”(TELwebsite,2010).The NLCR pledged to
contribute to the project aim of expanding optical character recognition (OCR) resources
from the Czech Republic with a total contribution of 2,400,000 pages of monographs and
1,000,000 pages of periodicals (Foltyn, 2010, p. 40). The TELplus project aims
coincided with the Kramerius project, allowing for increased access through the provision
of full text searching.
The final results of the project show that the National Library contribute
3,496,824 OCRed text files to the project (National Library of the Czech Republic,
2010), quite a substantial amount and more than originally pledged. The success in
aggregating these files into TEL as well as Kramerius demonstrate the NL’s ability to
function technologically as well as socially in international endeavors. The project also
addressed the challenges of font variation for OCRing, with the creation of a database of
font types that can be used in future OCR projects (Foltyn, 2010, p. 41).
Europeana:
TheEuropeanawebsite(www.europeana.org)linksuserswithdigitallibraries
fromamultitudeofculturalheritageinstitutionsacrossEurope,includingmuseums,
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libraries,andarchives.Europeanaisatypeofmetadigitallibrarywhichhelpsusers
tofindfulldigitalfilesfromdiversememberinstitutions.TheNLCRcontributes
metadatafromKrameriusandManuscriptoriumtoEuropeanainorderthatthese
digitalresourceswillbeincludedinmetasearchesthroughtheEuropeanasearch
interface. Europeana claims that “ Userstodayexpectcontenttobeintegrated‐to
beabletoseevideos,lookatimages,readtextsandlistentosoundsinthesame
space.Usersdon'texpecttohavetoenternewsearchtermsatseparatesitesto
bringtogetherrelatedcontent(website,2010).”AllmembersofTheEuropean
LibraryareassociatedwithEuropeana,thereforeprojectslikeTELplusarebenefial
toEuropeanaasameansofupdatingwebsiteusabilitythoughtheimplementation
ofTELrecommendations.
V.FinancingDigitizationattheCzechNationalLibrary Financingdigitizationprojectsisoneofthelargestobstaclesanorganization
canfacewhenchallengedwiththetaskofdigitization.Initialstartupcapitalfor
digitizationprojectsaroundtheglobeisoftensupportedbygrantsthatare
specificallyaimedatfundingbeginningdigitizationprojects.TheNLCRobtained
startupfundsfromtheUNESCOMemoryoftheWorldProgramme.TheKramerius
projectthatgrewfromthisUNESCOprogramwassubsequentlyfundedasnational
programVISK7,whichisnotanannualpartoftheNLCRbudget(Polišenský,n.d.).
ThesenationalprogramVISK7fundsareoftentoolowtomeetallofthegoalsofthe
Krameriusprojectsintermsofdigitalscansproduced,digitalobjectscatalogued,
anditemsavailableontheweb.Besidestheproductionofscansandsalariesfor
scanningtechnicians,cataloguers,andsystemstechnicians,thebudgetalsohasto
Doran 20
covertheexpensesofmaintainingorupdatingexistinghardwareandsoftwareto
createandsupportthedigitalrepository.TheVISK7fundsrequiredanannual
applicationtodeterminedistribution,althoughthisfundingsystemiscurrently
goingthrougharevision.TheNLCRplanstohaveabudgetlineintheNLCRbudget
toinsurecontinuedfundingoftheNationalDigitalLibrary.
AsamemberoftheEuropeanUnion,theCzechRepublicisalsoeligiblefor
fundingthroughNorwayGrantsandEuropeanEconomicArea(EEA)Grants.TheNL
haspreviouslybeenawardedoveronemillionEurosinfinancialsupporttodigitize
non‐periodicaldocumentsonacidicpaperfromthe19thcenturybohemical
collection. TheNorwayGrantsprovide83%ofthefundingforKramerius,withtheCzechRepubliccontributingtheother17%,foratotalof1,2millionsEURor36
millionsCzechCrowns(Polišenský,n.d.).Accordingtothe2009NLCRannual
report,theNLCRreceivedroughly6,000,000CzechCrowns(or245,000Euros)from
theMinistryofCulturein2009(2010,p.36).TheNDKisalsofundedthroughthe
EEAbytheIOP(IntegratedOperationalProgramme),whicharestructuralfundsfor
EUmembernationsenteringtheunionsince2005.ThetotalbudgetofIOPfunding
receivedbytheCzechRepublicis13millionEuros(Hutar,2010).
VI. The future of digital archives at the Czech National Library: It is a testament to the importance of digitization and digital preservation to the
mission of the NLCR that the projects and programs concerning these fields are the first
attended to in the 2009 Annual Report of the NLCR (National Library of the Czech
Republic, 2010, pp. 4-13). Digitization does pose a number of challenges concerning
Doran 21
access and preservation of digitized materials. A major issue in access is the ability to
connect to the internet. Currently, the internet is not universally available on a global
scale, connection strength can be limited in other areas, and the time necessary to
download large image files of digitized materials may be prohibitively long. According
to the website Internet World Stats, internet penetration in the Czech Republic is
estimated at 65.5% as of 2010. This high percentage of internet users and internet
availability in the Czech Republic suggests that the National Digital Library will be
accessibility to the majority of Czech citizens, although access to Czech cultural heritage
may be limited in other parts of the world.
Also of high concern with digitized collections is the issue of preservation, or
“accessibility over time” (Rieger. 2008. p. 2). According to Teper (2005, p. 33), some of
the challenges of preservation include: “Media decay, technological obsolescence, and
human fallibility.” The NLCR is responsible for preserving the materials they digitize,
and many resources exist to aid in the long term preservation of digital materials, such as:
The Digital Curation Lifecycle Model (Higgins, 2008), the Open Archival Information
System (OAIS) Model (CCSDS, 2002), and the Preservation Management of Digital
Material Handbook (Jones & Beagrie, 2008). A few of the issues involved in digital
preservation are: maintaining the hardware and software required to access digital
materials, migrating and reformatting materials onto current software and hardware
platforms, creating and updating standard metadata for materials, educating and training
staff to preserve materials, integrating digital preservation into everyday library
operations, and creating and following a long term strategy for preservation. Even given
these many challenges, information professionals believe they can meet the challenges in
Doran 22
order to provide the best possible access to cultural heritage materials (Rusbridge, 2006;
Rieger, 2008).
Toensurethelong‐termpreservationofdigitizedmaterials,theNLCRis
participatinginanEUproject called Digital Preservation Europe (DPE). The goals of
DPE are:
1. To create a coherent platform for proactive cooperation, collaboration, exchange and dissemination of research results and experience in the preservation of digital objects. 2. To increase prevalence of preservation services and their viability and accountability.
3. To improve awareness, skills and available resources. The project, financed by IOP funds, will utilized newly digitized Bohemica materials to
test diverse preservation methods. Around 26 million pages will be digitized by the
completion of the project in 2014, as well is new data about the viability of digital
preservation (National Library of the Czech Republic, 2010, p. 32).
The NLCR will continue its work on the National Digital Library (NDK) in the
coming years. The 2009 Annual Report lists over ten research projects aimed at the
development of the NDK, including extensive work on the Kramerius and
Manuscriptorium projects. As detailed above in the section on financing, Kramerius is
benefitting from grant funds from the Norway Grant and from EEA monies to digitize
19th century Bohemical book collections printed on acidic paper: “the suppliers ensure
for us the preparation of an archival and registry negative, microfilm scanning and data
modification, i.e. cutting and straightening, OCR data conversion into text format and file
conversion from the JPEG to the DjVu format” (National Library of the Czech Republic,
2010, p. 13). The NLCR is rapidly expanding the number of digital files available for
public viewing in the Kramerius system.
Doran 23
Simultaneously, the NLCR continues to develop the Manuscriptorium project as
well, with work on the standardization of the internal formatting of the Manuscriptorium
system which allow for greater interoperability of the diverse systems providing content
to the database (National Library of the Czech Republic, 2010, p. 9). This includes work
on creating a multi-language ontology in order to bring up relevant entries across the
many European languages present in the system (p. 9). The tools available on the
Manuscriptorium homepage to assist in the creation of digital libraries which will be
interoperable with Manuscriptorium will hopefully attract additional contributors from
across Europe to this cultural heritage digital repository. One project underway meant to
enhance EU cooperation is the REDISCOVER (Reunion of Dispersed Content: Virtual
Evaluation and Reconstruction) project which will integrateexistingdigitizedcontent
andcreateinteractiveexhibitionsinfourEuropeancountries:Lithuania,Poland,
RomaniaandCzechRepublic(REDISCOVERwebsite,2010).Alldigitizedmaterials
andexhibitioninformationwillbemadeavailablethroughManuscriptorium.
Oneofthemostdifficultchallengestodigitizationprojectsissecuring
fundingforongoingprojectsliketheNationalDigitalLibrary(NDK)oftheCzech
Republic.AhopefulsignforthefutureoftheNDKistheacceptanceoftheNDKasa
strategicprioritybytheCzechMinistryofCultureandtheCzechGovernment.This
strategicprioritystatusenablestheNDKtobeeligibleforEuropeanfunding
throughtheIOP(IntegratedOperationalProgramme).ThisIOPfundingwillallow
theNLCRtoacceleratetherateofdigitizationthroughthecreationoftwomodern
digitizationcentersinPragueandBrno.Thefundswillallowfor:
Doran 24
• Digitisation of the documents published in and since 1801 (540,000 documents, 137 million pages (1060 TB of raw digital data in one locality, 60 TB fast access for users) • Digitisation of historical documents published until1800 ( 20,000 documents, 9 million pages (50 TB of raw digital data in one locality, all fast access for users) • WebArchive: harvesting and archiving of 5 billion files (221 TB of raw digital data in one locality, all fast access for users) • Trusted digital repository (certified by internal as well as external audits) • User-friendly and customised access to digital content for various users.
The total budget of the project should be 29 million EUR with 85% from European IOP
funding and 15% from the Czech Ministry of Culture (Marvanová, 2009, p. 22). The
determination and commitment of the National Library of the Czech Republic is key to
overcoming the obstacles inherent in digization projects, so that the NLCR can create a
National Digital Library that will ensure the long-term accessibility and preservation of
the Czech cultural heritage.
Doran 25
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