Information technology and libraries: All the relevant books published before 1831 to be digitized in Russia

As part of the program for the conservation of the literary monuments on the territory of the Russian Federation the Ministry of Culture plans to digitize all the important books published before 1831. The access to the rarities will receive all the residents of large cities in the country, institutions that have a program of the National Digital Library. This is related by the chief of the Department of Library Science and Education of the Ministry of Culture Evgeny Gusev.  

- We expect that as part of the program will be digitized most valuable specimens. Today, even if you are a researcher, you will not be allowed to see old books, because they are all stored in special conditions, - said Eugenia Guseva.  

The rest of the books, not posing a serious social or scientific value, will be entered in the register of book monuments which is compiled annually by the Ministry of Culture. The program is designed to digitize up to 2020.

- In every major library there is the center to work with the old books, which is engaged in the identification and description of the literary monuments. This is quite a serious scientific work. Each year the expense is in the hundreds of "new" old books, - said Eugenia Guseva.

One of these centers is in the Belgorod State Regional Scientific Library. Chief Librarian Tatiana Dogadina told that in the near future it would be the center of digitized medieval edition of Aristotle.

- Our pride - a collection of Aristotle in 1552, which is printed in Switzerland in Basel. People are very happy when rare books can be browsed on the computer, - said Tatiana Dogadina. - All we have to digitize more than 8 thousand of rare books, this is the work for years.

Head of the Department of Library Science and Education of the Ministry of Culture explained that the concept of "book monument" includes recent publications with the so-called marginals (entries in the fields) by famous people.

- Books of the XX century with marginalia of Tsiolkovsky and Einstein are also considered to be significant. What to say on selections of Pushkin in the books from the library of Chaadaev. Much work will be in the distant regions, because that is where today are revealed the most interesting books, - said Eugenia Guseva.

The program of the inventory of literary monuments includes the central library of the 45 subjects of the Russian Federation. According to a government contract, until December 15, 2014 at least 25 experts from each region will be trained.