Bulgarian Literary Classics – Knowledge for Everyone. Unknown Archives and Cultural Contexts

The project was implemented jointly with the Sofia Library and the National Literary Museum.

Research Team (Institute for Literature): Assoc. Prof. Penka Vatova, Assoc. Prof. Elka Dimitrova, Assoc. Prof. Alexandra Antonova, Assoc. Prof. Miryana Yanakieva, Senior Asst. Prof. Kalina Zakhova, Senior Asst. Prof. Andrey Tashev

NLM and SL Team: Donka Bilyarska, Katya Zografova, Julia Tsinzova, Velislava Marinova.

The main goal of the project was the reconstruction, systematization and preservation through digitalization of a unique cultural heritage, which is important for the national and European humanitarian culture and is threatened by physical decay. The project team has digitized the archives of 13 Bulgarian classic writers: a total of 214,000 copies. These include: 156 thousand archival units; 50 thousand digitized copies of the complete collection of the Bulgarian children's periodicals: newspapers, magazines, single sheets; 6400 photos and postcards. 300 spatial objects were digitized in 3D format: objects, clothes and other artifacts representing the life and work of Bulgarian writers. For quick and convenient access to the scanned array of documents, a cultural-historical profile has been created for each of them, including four types of articles presenting creative and personal biography: "Biography"; "For the work of…"; "The Writer in Contemporary Culture", "Curious Facts", accompanied by personal bibliographic catalogs. Access to published materials is free, which allows for the active use of the digital corpus for scientific and cultural purposes.

Based on the digital content, two cultural and educational films, two textbooks and three virtual exhibitions have been prepared. According to the requirements of the BG 08 Program, a digital fund of the culture of the Roma ethnic group has been created within the project, containing 13,420 digital copies of archives, periodicals, books, letters, photos, artifacts, etc. Within the project 26 Roma youths were trained to work with specialized scanning equipment. They are also prepared for the administration of the virtual museum of Roma culture.

Significant public interest in the project was shown by national electronic and print media. 44 publications, interviews and TV shows were presented, presenting its originality and significance in the preservation of the cultural and historical heritage.