SEVERAL MILLION DIGITIZED PAGES AT THIS PUBLIC SECTOR LIBRARY WILL BE DISPLAYED THROUGH MEDIAINFO.
“Our digital publications were scattered in various different systems and databases. Now we are centralizing all books and publications through our new digital library system Geneza’s MediaINFO”, says Tomas Fiala, the head of Digitization Department of the University Library in Bratislava.
The practical benefits of this project are already visible. Using MediaINFO the reader can flip through Slovak newspapers published in the 1940s or a theater magazine from the 1920es as if these were in their hands. The age and condition of these historical publications would severely limit the readership to whoever could get access to the sole physical copy.
Most libraries are understandably keen to preserve and secure their collections for future generations. However too often the technology used to show these digitized treasures to the public is not sophisticated or open enough and in some cases this can create silos of hard to access information.
With MediaINFO a fascinating array of publications and manuscripts is gaining a new and much wider audience. The newspaper Pressburger Zeitung is a good example. “For various historical reasons no library had a complete collection of this periodical. We managed to re-unify the complete collection by digitizing its different parts here in our library and the Hungarian National Library. Researchers and people interested in this periodical used to have to go from one library to the other to find what they were looking for. The electronic form enables them to have everything together,” Mr Fiala said.
An additional benefit for the university is that with MediaINFO the digitized content can be displayed not only on desktop computers and laptops, but also on iPads and even iPhones.
“We are delighted that MediaINFO was selected by this prestigious institution. We understand the needs of our clients, and in this project MediaINFO is helping to popularize valuable content to a new demographic of researchers and library users.
Throughout the world there is a new generation that wants to use library resources in a modern way. A way that suits the way they live, work, and study nowadays. This is what MediaINFO delivers today” commented Mr. Sasa Mutic, Geneza’s Chief Executive.
http://digitalna.kniznica.info/
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY IN BRATISLAVA
The University Library in Bratislava (UKB) is the oldest and largest research library in the Slovak Republic. It was established in 1919 as a library for the newly founded Comenius University. In parallel to its academic purpose it has also served as the national library until 1954. From the very beginning the Library gained the right to legal deposit. Since 1954 UKB has become a major research library that also serves the public. The name University Library remains because it speaks of its historical purpose, funding and user background. Over the years the library transformed from a classical library to a modern research library and multifunctional center of culture.
At present the Library contains approximately 2,520,000 publications.