Elarscan digitizes books at National library of Bulgaria

Bulgarian National library SS. Cyril and Methodius continues with digitization of rare books. The first item digitized with ElarScan A2 was a famous Lovech Four Gospels copied by Petar Gramatik of the middle XVI century with a silver cover from the end of XVIII century.

The digitization of documents began in 2013 when a new department was created and equipped with professional equipment. Elarscan was installed in the one of the reading rooms of the National library in 2017. According to Professor Krasimira Alexandrova, Library Director, the scanner is ideal for digitizing complex old books and manuscripts as well as modern publications. "We plan to continue using the scanner with the same intensity, we have a lot of work ahead," says Krasimira Alexandrova.

“Using the new equipment, we have already digitized more than 40, 000 pages of library collections. This includes 8,491 pages from “Oriental collections” department, 21,394 pages from the reading room and department “Manuscripts and Old Printed Books” and 11,857 pages from “Bulgarian historical archives” department. Among the digitized materials there are different types of catalogues, reference books, documents of interlibrary loan, manuscripts (incl.Turkish manuscripts from Professor Boris Nedkov's collection), reviews of archival funds and other historical documents. Now some digital copies are already available via the Internet, helping readers to navigate within our vast collections," notes Gabriela Angelova, archivist at the National library.

The scanner is equipped with a universal adaptive cradle for bound and flat documents, books and archival materials. Automatic focus and macro-module, streaming scanning and integrated image processing provide excellent scanning speed and image quality. "ElarScan A2 is installed in the national library of Bulgaria in full configuration, - says the representative of ELAR in Bulgaria Andriana Georgieva. - In particular, the V-shaped cradle and flattening glass is critical for processing tightly-stitched documents that are difficult to open. To achieve good quality scans from loose sheets after long-term storage, the cradle is laid down and the flat glass is used for the best result. Versatility of the Elarscan is of high value to the customer.".