Abstract:

In essence, "marginal notes" are a variety of extra-textual supplements in manuscripts and old-print books. They are usually found in the margins of  hold manuscripts. The marginal notes in the Bulgarian manuscripts (from XI to XIX century) are a valuable source for the dating, history and fate of those written monuments, as well as Bulgarian cultural, linguistic and economic history in general. As a separate literary genre, the marginal notes in the Bulgarian manuscript tradition undergo a transformation that brings them closer to the chronicles in their character. This makes it possible for such texts on the margins of old printed books and manuscripts to be considered part of the cultural and historical heritage of Bulgaria.

The main problem with the marginal notes is that they remain the property of the owner of the printed books or manuscripts in which they are placed. This hinders the chance for those marginal notes to become publicly beneficial and become part of the public cultural and historical heritage. Overcoming this problem is possible by digitizing marginal notes and choosing an approach to distribute them in digital format, which is associated with the need for specialists with the necessary skills. 

This article presents the approaches to teaching and developing specific skills for identification, digitization and dissemination of marginal notes when working with students in the program "Digital Library Collections" in University of library studies and information technologies, Bulgaria. The emphasis is on the "Digitization of Marginal Notes” course, which aims at acquainting students with the essence of the marginalia as a secondary source material so that they can create digital collections of wide public significance and use for research purposes. Students also learn practical skills in searching and identifying secondary sources and develop the ability to digitize, describe and introduce them online through a web-based platform. This online content, the "Digitization of Marginal Notes”, is a fundamental element of the development of a digital library collection.

The research has shown that in order to develop the necessary skills, future digital collection specialists must have access to 3 kinds of resources: technical, software and educational. The ability of accessible web-based tools to disseminate digitized objects have become a mandatory element in such training. The web-based tools have a beneficial effect both on the learning process and on the promotion of digitized objects on account of their importance for the cultural and historical heritage.

Keywords:

Marginal notes, digitization, collection, students.