Abstract:
The article examines the main stages in digitization and best practices of effective use of archival collections in various institutions in Bulgaria.
Firstly the digital collections of archival documents in the Bulgarian archives and libraries are presented and then their importance to various studies of local history and genealogy in scientific and amateur aspects being outlined.
Number of collections have been analyzed – the collections of the Archives State Agency and especially its regional archival structures; the collections of the National Library "St. St. Cyril and Methodius", which is an important archive centre for documents from the Bulgarian revival; collections of regional libraries and the collection of NALIS foundation since it is an unifier of the university network of libraries. Particular attention is paid to the access to these collections.
As a second stage of digitization of documents is alleged the participation of archives and libraries in initiatives and projects for the migration of metadata for digitized objects to other portals and digital libraries, thereby providing various opportunities for access to the same digital object. In the current article are presented mostly initiatives of regional libraries in this direction.
The main focus in the third stage of digitization is not on the selection and scanning of documents, and providing access to them, but on defining the different approaches of sharing and enriching the digital information, e.g. in social networks. Special attention is paid to initiatives of libraries for digital content reuse as well as for the wider involvement of citizens in projects related to enrichment and popularization of digital information pertaining to local and family history.
