Preservation through digitisation of the endangered Armenian rare books and making them accessible on the Web (phase 1) (EAP180)

One of the largest collections of early printed books and periodicals in the Republic of Armenia is located in the Fundamental Scientific Library (FSL). The rare book collection is in particularly poor condition and requires urgent action to protect them and prevent further damage.

The first Armenian book was printed in Venice in 1512 by Yakob Meghapart. Between 1512 and 1513 he printed five titles: Urbatagirk, Parzaytumar, Pataragatetr, Altark and Tagharan. The collection contains 231 titles printed between 1512 and 1800.

After the establishment of the communist regime in Armenia in 1920 and ideological cleansings of 1937, substantial numbers of manuscripts and books were destroyed and the remaining were confined to the archives. A huge number of Armenian periodicals published during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were placed in closed archives classified as 'Top Secret'. The reason was that articles could be found in these publications describing historical events of that time not in the way desired by the communist party leaders; or the founders and publishers of the periodicals were political parties, clergy or persons not cooperating with the communist regime. The FSL was the location selected by the authorities to house such material and a very limited number of researchers had access to these materials. Since 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet regime and the emergence of Armenia as an Independent Republic, all spheres of Armenian society have experienced a tremendous and fundamental change. The category of material previously labeled 'Top Secret' is now open to all users. Periodical literature is a vital and unique source of information for the study of the history of the Armenian Diaspora, their literature, culture, institutions, church life, and politics.

The preservation conditions are not satisfactory - all the collections are very fragile, suffering from paper deterioration and fungus lesion, and the physical condition of the books is rapidly deteriorating. The fluctuation of temperatures and level of humidity in the stacks during the autumn and spring seasons and the pollution level remain uncontrolled. Many rare books which were indicated as sources in the publications of scholars at the beginning of the twentieth century are currently unavailable as they have been destroyed, either through poor storage, or because of the fragility of the paper or lost in war and civil strife, and there are no surrogate copies for them. The same will happen with the remaining ones, as the paper continues to deteriorate.

This project will digitise the Armenian rare book collections and periodicals being kept in the FSL and make them available on the web. These unique texts, pictures and atlases are of immense value for understanding the culture, traditions, political structure and habits of the people and the nations living in Asia Minor in medieval times. The collection comprises 4,200 endangered books and 190 titles of Armenian language newspapers and periodicals. Professional training will be provided for those involved in the digitising activities and these retrained staff will then provide training sessions for the Armenian library community.

Web versions of the images are being hosted on the FSL webpage under the heading 'Armeniaca'.