Abstract:

The advancement of technology has fundamentally changed the information environment revealing unsuspected opportunities for conversion and multifunctional use of current information resources. The rapid development of information and communication technologies has led to an increase of the possibilities of gathering, storing, processing and retrieving information in all spheres of knowledge. The global trend in information processes development has brought up the issue of the mission of libraries in a knowledge-based society.

Thanks to modern technologies, opportunities are being developed for improving the processes related to the storage of library units. Through digitalization, a new form of working with library funds is created and an easier and quick access to them is revealed. For years, Bulgaria has been actively working to digitize rare and valuable publications, manuscripts, archival documents, photographs, etc. The projects in this area are increasing and this leads to promoting more and more documents that are part of our literary heritage. The study of historical past and the preservation of cultural heritage are interrelated and important tasks of scientific units, universities and cultural institutions.

The study of the period of the Bulgarian National Revival has attracted the interest of specialists from various scientific fields from Bulgaria and abroad. That is why the access to scientific information and electronic-format source materials is extremely important for the current development of scientific research, international scientific exchanges and scientific communication. There are dozens of projects that have been designed in Bulgarian libraries to digitize collections of the Bulgarian National Revival periodicals and literature. The progress made so far on these library projects has resulted in the creation of electronic catalogues of the Revival Period collections and digitization of individual editions. There are isolated cases of full-text presentation of the Bulgarian National Revival literature as well as of scientific literature on the subject in electronic format.

The aim of this survey is to track the improvement of the regional libraries in Bulgaria with regard to the digitalization of documents from the period of the Bulgarian National Revival and to highlight some good examples.

Acknowledgements:
The proposed paper is one of the outcomes of the scholarly project, titled “Information Portal for Archival-Documentary Heritage of the Bulgarian Revival” (Contract КП-06-Н 25/2,13.12.2018, NSF).

Keywords:

Bulgaria, Bulgarian National Revival, Regional Libraries, Digitalization, Documentary Heritage.