Information Technology and Libraries: The rare editions of the Sakhalin Regional Library were digitized and are available online

The Sakhalin Regional Universal Scientific Library has offered the unique local lore studies to a wide range of readers using Abbyy technology. Now, anyone who wishes can go to the library’s website and browse through the electronic versions of local periodicals and books from the unique collection of regional studies.

The Sakhalin Oblast Scientific Library gathers together 617,000 publications, many of which are relevant to the history and culture of Sakhalin and the Kurils. The project of building of an electronic library with an objective to provide public with reliable information on local history of the Sakhalin region is supported by the state.

The project’s task was to digitize paper-based media and to create a full-text database of electronic documents. Accordingly, "Sakhalin and the Kurils – The Islands of the Day Spring" electronic library was established. Now several databases are being formed in there: the Sakhalin Oblast periodicals (newspapers and magazines); the thematic collections of the Sakhalin authors’ books, the books and the articles on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, and the prominent Sakhalin figures. The electronic newspapers and books that are identical to the published originals are available for free downloading in a convenient, easy-to-read PDF format.