Abstract:

Microhistory has always had a certain role and popularity that seems to be increasing in recent years. To a varying degree this changes and enriches the classical historical paradigm in which major events, general processes, key personalities and central institutions of power occupy a central place. In fact, next to the large-scale topics of historical study can be detected numerous small themes and issues that nevertheless have great potential for exploration. For example, apart from the professional community of historians, ordinary amateur researchers are rather vividly interested in their family history, the history of a small locality, even a particular neighbourhood (mahalle), or specific local institution.

Archives are undoubtedly among the most important institutions tasked with preserving historical memory. In fact, the purpose of this report is to present the extent to which the documents of Bulgarian municipalities and local institutions – professional organisations, church boards, which are preserved in the National Library ‘St. St. Cyril and Methodius’, are processed and digitized, and accordingly to present an overview of how modern Bulgarian municipalities work, arrange, keep and transfer their documents to the respective state archives. The objective is to highlight the historical perspective in which these important documents are located and to underline their importance for the preservation of local and regional historical memory.

This article will also highlight the latest issues that Bulgarian municipalities have to deal with in view of the increasing introduction of electronic documentation and the issues related to its proper storage and preservation for future generations.

Keywords:

Digitization, electronic documents, Bulgarian Revival, Bulgarian municipalities, valuable documents.