Digitalisation
Since the 2000s, we have been carrying out extensive digitisation projects at the University and State Library of Saxony-Anhalt. Our focus is on historical prints and manuscripts. As part of the VD 16, VD 17 and VD 18 projects (VD stands for ‘Verzeichnis der im deutschen Sprachraum erschienenen Drucke’ – ‘Catalogue of Printed Works Published in the German-speaking World’), we are digitising valuable collections. In doing so, we ensure that these unique materials remain available in the long term and accessible to future generations.
Our focus is on various materials, including copyright-free works from the 16th to the 19th centuries, available on request. We have also digitised prints from the 16th to the 18th centuries as part of the VD digitisation projects run by the German Research Foundation (DFG). We also place particular emphasis on historical newspapers. With over 1,500 newspapers published before 1945, including around 800 regional newspapers from Central Germany, we hold one of the largest newspaper collections in Germany. In addition, we are digitising historical maps from our extensive map collection.
Further information on completed and current projects can be found in the Project Overview.
Examples of digitalisation projects:
When it comes to digitisation, we attach great importance to adhering to defined standards. Careful consideration is given both to the quality of the scans – which are produced using book scanners that minimise damage to the material – and to the scope, format and provision of the bibliographic and technical metadata. This ensures that our digitised works can be presented and searched in high quality. In addition to making them available online, long-term digital archiving also plays a vital role in ensuring the long-term preservation of the digitised works and their metadata.
To ensure efficient digitisation, we operate a state-of-the-art digitisation line. Thanks to our high-quality technology, we can scan documents up to A0 size. We also have a roll film scanner, which can be used to scan collections that have been filmed onto microfilm.
Our workflow is largely based on open-source solutions such as Kitodo.Production. In addition, we also use our own in-house developments to ensure efficient and seamless digitalisation.
A key objective of our digitisation projects is to make historical prints more accessible to researchers. We therefore generate extensive full-text data for works that have already been digitised. In doing so, we use components of the OCR-D project as well as our own in-house developments, to enable accurate and efficient text recognition.
Our digitised materials are made available via the repositories Share_it and Share_DIGit, which are based on the DSpace software. These repositories have been specifically enhanced to meet our requirements, in order to enable the optimal display and use of the digitised materials. In this way, we support the IIIF-Image and Presentation APIs, which enable modern viewers such as Mirador can be used when working with our digitised materials.
Valid metadata is of paramount importance to us. It enables the unique identification and long-term discoverability of our digital objects. By using metadata that complies with standards, we ensure interoperability and integration between different systems and platforms.
As the State Library, we also support other state institutions with their own digitisation projects. We contribute our experience and expertise to ensure that other institutions can also benefit from the advantages of digitisation.