The Digital Library

The digitisation of Latvia’s cultural heritage has been a complex and multifaceted process conducted to preserve and make accessible the nation’s rich cultural history in digital form. The aim of this article is to provide insight into the unified Latvian digital cultural heritage platform, the Digital Library,^[1] highlighting its diverse content and the involvement of regional libraries in content enrichment and synergy. The first digitisation activities in Latvia were undertaken in 1994 (Bandere & Ķikāne, 2024); since then and until mid-2024, the activities of various cultural institutions have led to the development of individual digital collections and numerous information systems, as well as facilitating cooperation between Latvian cultural institutions. The creation of a unified, integrated national digital cultural heritage infrastructure is a logical continuation of this development. Influential in the development of this single platform were two projects co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the state and the readiness of the cultural heritage sector to create a single platform for preserving Latvia’s digital cultural heritage (Bandere & Ķikāne, 2024). The DCH platform (Figure 1) was developed on the basis of the existing infrastructure of the National Library of Latvia, including a unified Digital Object Management (DOM) system for the long-term preservation of digital objects, a reference data system and a copyright management and licensing system, as well as the Digital Library that facilitates unified dissemination of digital cultural heritage objects and information retrieval. The Digital Library has reached 100,000 users in its first year of operation since its launch on 26 October 2023, with more than 1 million views on the website. It provides access to images, documents, periodicals, books, maps and other materials collected by archives, museums, libraries, organisations, communities and individuals in Latvia. The library’s content is continuously updated, with the goal of unifying all of Latvia’s cultural heritage content into a single search system, regardless of the creator or custodian – be it a cultural, educational or scientific institution or a private individual (Bandere & Ķikāne, 2024).

The Digital Library is based on four unifying guiding principles (Figure 2):

1. The needs and requirements of the content users come first. The Digital Library unifies collections and breaks down institutional boundaries, providing users with unified access to Latvia’s cultural heritage;
2. The Digital Library brings together authentic historical sources and ensures the broadest and correct access to Latvia’s cultural heritage;
3. The Digital Library harnesses technological possibilities to make content more accessible and easy to use and thus sustains Latvia’s cultural heritage;
4. The success of the Digital Library is based on the cooperation and contribution of partners, each sharing their knowledge, experience and resources (About the Digital Library, 2023).

The Digital Library is an important contribution to the preservation and accessibility of Latvia’s cultural heritage; it promotes research, education and cultural understanding and opens up new possibilities for the preservation and interpretation of cultural heritage. It is a valuable resource for researchers, students, teachers and anyone interested in Latvia’s cultural heritage.

Content Synergy

The Digital Library showcases more than 3.8 million digital objects from more than 650 partners. The content is grouped into five categories – texts, images, videos, audio and museum objects, including periodicals, books from the 17th century to the present day, maps, sheet music, ephemera from the National Library of Latvia (NLL); text documents, photographs, audio and video recordings from the Latvian National Archives (LNA); museum objects from various Latvian museums, intangible cultural heritage listings, surveys of cultural monuments, including 3D models from the National Heritage Board; and Latvian Television and Latvian Radio recordings, films produced in Latvia and digital art archives. The Digital Library also includes the Electronic Union Catalogue of Latvian Libraries of National Significance.

Cooperation among different cultural institutions, such as the NLL, the LNA, the National Heritage Board, museums, regional partners and other organisations, is essential to ensure greater access to and diversity of the cultural heritage content. Each institution’s collections contain a unique and diverse range of materials, and the Digital Library’s different collections form a content synergy of Latvia’s digital cultural heritage, offering researchers and the public the opportunity to reinterpret the content. For example, the National Heritage Board has uploaded and offers access to digitised monument files, surveys, measurements,^[2] photographs, 3D objects and other documents^[3] from all over Latvia, including Talsi. However, the regional partner Talsi Main Library’s Talsu Local History Collection^[4] houses testimonies donated by residents: photographs, manuscripts, audio and video recordings, as well as the photographic collection of the bibliographer and photographer Jānis Tāle (1902–1983), which documents the buildings, monuments and other cultural objects of Talsi. This collection is a valuable addition for researchers, teachers, students and the general public alongside the National Heritage Board’s monument collection, providing a diversity of materials and contributing to Latvia’s overall cultural heritage.

The content of each regional partner’s collection is different; for instance, the Gulbene Local History Collection,^[5] created by the Gulbene Regional Library, reflects the history, people, cultural and historical monuments and events of the Gulbene region since the late 19th century until the present day, revealing the rich cultural heritage of the region. It contains materials on Alfrēds Gāters (1921–1986), the Latvian linguist, literary scholar and doctor living in exile. Gāters wrote on linguistic issues and published several reviews of books by Latvian exile authors in exile newspapers (Alfrēds Gāters, n.d.). Although the bulk of Gāter’s estate – 3,000 books and around 3,000 letters – was bequeathed and ended up in the collection of the University of Hamburg (Kalējs, 1987), the Gulbene Local History Collection contains photographs and evidence from the linguist’s childhood and school years in the Gulbene district, as well as some coverage of his exile years in Hamburg. Still, the A. Gātera collection in the Gulbene Regional Library has not yet been fully digitised.

The Digital Library houses materials not only about the linguist from the Gulbene Regional Library, but also from Latvian Radio, the National Library of Latvia and other partners. The Latvian Radio programme ‘Tēvu laipa šaizemē‘ (Stroda, 1999) tells the story of Gāters’ life in Stāmeriena in the Gulbene district and his life in exile in Germany. In the NLL collection, one can read Gāters’ articles and also articles about him in the exile newspapers Latvija, Latvija Amerikā, Laiks and other publications. The synergy among the diverse range of materials from the partners provides greater insight into the life of this linguist, promoting more detailed research and interpretation. The collaborative efforts of regional partners in enriching the Digital Library contribute to the integration of Latvia’s cultural heritage within the broader European and global digital cultural landscape.

Continuing the analysis of available materials and information about the exiled linguist Alfrēds Gāters in a European context, 89 bibliographic records and a digitised book by the author have been found in the Hamburg University catalogue.^[6] It is possible that an additional collection of non-digitised documents and photographs is located in the Latvian Society in Hamburg.

The Digital Library’s partners, collections and materials cover various aspects of Gāters’ life (both his works and biographical data), creating a broader picture of his life and legacy. The material available on Gāters in Latvia and Europe is fragmented across different institutions, but together it paints a broad picture of different aspects of his life and work.

A global example can be found in the Digital Library’s collection of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Recordings,^[7] which comprises 520 audio recordings made at the end of the 20th century, reflecting political events and changes in Latvia and globally, as well as cultural and social developments in the Latvian diaspora. The recordings were made in exile; historically, for various reasons, some of the physical recordings – audio cassettes and magnetic tapes – were sent to Latvia and are located in two different institutions, the NLL and the LNA, and a third part of the recordings are held at the Hoover Institution Library and Archives in the United States. Cooperation among these institutions allows these separate sections of the physical recordings to be preserved and ensures that the recordings are available in the digital space as a unified collection, both in Latvia and internationally. Such cooperation enables a global perspective on local and diaspora events, rendering them with greater context and value. The Digital Library’s capabilities allow for the effective pooling and dissemination of material from different regions, providing international access to and understanding of historical and cultural events.

The number of partners continues to grow steadily as more and more organisations and private collection holders add their content to the Digital Library. For example, the diversity of partners is illustrated by the collaboration of organisations such as the Association of Dramaturgs, the World Association of Free Latvians, the New Media Culture Centre RIXC, the Latvian Radio and the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art at the University of Latvia. The content provided by the 650 partners of the Digital Library allows users to explore Latvia’s historical and cultural treasures from the perspective of cultural heritage institutions, non-governmental organizations and private collections. The following sections of this article describe in greater detail the cooperation with regional partners, mainly focusing on regional libraries and their involvement in supplementing the Digital Library with local historic materials and other content.

The Involvement of Regional Libraries in Content Development

Each institution’s collection is unique and, together with the resources of other content providers, diversifies and adds to Latvia’s cultural heritage. Regional libraries and museums in Latvia are important custodians of regional cultural heritage, preserving local history, culture and traditions that are specific to a particular region and thus fostering a sense of belonging and helping shape a nation’s identity. They also provide access to information, support lifelong learning and serve as community centres. The long-term preservation, management and accessibility of the collection in the digital environment is an objective of the Latvian Library Sector Strategy 2023–2027. The sector is clear in stating that ‘Cultural heritage digitised with state and municipal funds should be preserved in a unified manner on the digital cultural heritage platform and accessible in the Digital Library (digitalabiblioteka.lv)’ (Ministry of Culture, 2022, pp. 9–10). To meet the strategy objective, regional libraries will need to work on digitising their collections and ensuring that Latvia’s digitised cultural heritage is preserved in a unified manner on the DCH platform and accessible in the Digital Library.

In addition to compiling annual statistics for Latvian libraries, in 2022, the NLL conducted in-depth research and analysed digitisation volumes and current practices in the main regional libraries (National Library of Latvia, 2022). The NLL also visited regional libraries to discuss the challenges and benefits of starting to store their content on the DCH platform and to agree on potential opportunities for cooperation. The main benefit for regional partners starting work on the DCH platform is the possibility to use the free infrastructure that has already been developed and ensures the preservation and presentation of content in perpetuity, while the biggest challenge is the lack of knowledge and experience in digitising and preserving digital content. This situation highlights the need for further education and support to help libraries overcome digitisation challenges and to make effective use of the opportunities offered by the DCH platform.

The survey data indicate a wide range of digitisation practices among regional libraries (Figure 3). While there is some overlap in their activities, such as in the creation of virtual exhibitions, there is a significant degree of variation in how they handle the description, preservation and accessibility of digital objects.

By identifying the needs, desires and challenges of regional libraries, the NLL was able to accurately determine and tailor the services and training provided. These services and training are adapted to the specific digitalisation practices of each region as needed. The results of the research show that regional libraries have the content – local history materials, recordings of events, and so on – the human resources and the equipment to be able to digitise their collections, but not digitisation experience and expertise, the infrastructure to store the digitised content or the funding to develop digital collections and display systems. Regional libraries have long been compelled to find different solutions to overcome these challenges. The DCH platform enables regional libraries to use the existing infrastructure to securely preserve their content and offer quality content presentation opportunities (Ausēja, 2023). The unified DCH platform provides a framework for standardising the different digitisation practices of regional libraries, as well as enabling them to preserve, display and promote their digital content in one place. The establishment of a unified national-level infrastructure for preserving Latvia’s digital cultural heritage has been a significant step forward for regional libraries as well. The changes have necessitated a wide range of training to enhance digital skills, including metadata creation, collaboration with various systems, digitisation practices and copyright management. Since late 2022, the regional collections on the unified DCH platform have gradually grown, thanks to successful collaborations and training initiatives.

Knowledge Transfer: Regional Centres of Excellence

At the end of 2022, only a few regional libraries saw more opportunities than challenges in starting to preserve their collections on the DCH platform and presenting them in the Digital Library. Gradually through consulting and learning, more and more regional libraries became aware of this opportunity and wanted to get involved by preserving and presenting their unique content on the DCH platform.

The national-level planning document Digital Transformation Guidelines 2021–2027 (Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, 2020, pp. 20-22) emphasises that strengthening knowledge and skills in the digital sphere is critically important. Meanwhile, the Library Sector Strategy 2023–2027 includes a commitment to developing digital competence centres through creating a regional network of digitisation competence and ensuring the transfer of competencies to and between regions (Ministry of Culture, 2022). The NLL, as the Centre of Excellence for Digital Cultural Heritage, provides guidelines, training, consultations, and workshops for regional libraries on digitisation and the creation and preservation of digital content within the systems of the Digital Cultural Heritage platform. Joint training and standards foster a unified understanding of digitisation processes and metadata creation, ensuring quality preservation and the accessibility of all digitised and digitally created materials. These efforts also enhance the knowledge and expertise of regional librarians in the field of digitisation (Ausēja, 2023). The strengthening of shared competencies in the regions is an investment for the improvement and further transfer of knowledge and experience, as well as for the enrichment of high-quality digital content. Knowledge transfer to regions is occurring gradually, as regional colleagues increasingly trust and learn from each other, sharing experiences that are often relevant due to similarities in the challenges faced by regional libraries. In the summer of 2024, two strong regional digitisation centres emerged: the Gulbene Regional Library and the Kuldīga Main Library. Both centres are willing to share their expertise, experience and knowledge with their colleagues and also with cultural workers in other regions, forming a digital competence network.

The Collections of Regional Partners

After the training, each of the partners can build and develop their own collections, which can be of two types: institutional collections and thematic collections, respectively editor-created and partner-created. Thematic collections that are created by an editor include digital content from several partners on a specific topic; for example, the collection Nonconformist Graphics of the Latvian Soviet Period^[8] includes more than 3,200 digital objects – drawings, prints, posters, postcards and other documents from six different types of partners. The collection includes nonconformist graphic artworks created during the years of Soviet rule from the National Library of Latvia, Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, the Latvian National Museum of Art, Cēsis History and Art Museum and the Latvian National Archives, as well as the collections of other partners.

Regional libraries and other partners are developing institutional collections by gradually increasing the number of digital objects through manually entering or adding files to metadata exported from the library system. The collection only contains the content of the specific partner, which is added and developed at the initiative of the partner.

In total, regional libraries have added just over 2,000 digital objects to Latvia’s digital cultural heritage environment over a two-year period, available in 14 regional collections, four of which are publicly accessible in the Digital Library. The main criterion for publishing a regional collection in the Digital Library is a minimum number of 100 digital objects.

In order to assess the success of the digitisation of local history in regional libraries in Latvia, it is useful to analyse the dynamics of collection development, the total number of digital objects in the collection and the statistics of total views in the Digital Library. These data offer valuable insights into public interest in the digitised content of specific regions, helping assess the effectiveness of efforts to make Latvia’s cultural heritage widely accessible to the public.

In the 10 months since the launch of the Digital Library, the collections of four regional libraries were published (Figure 4). Digitisation as a trend and a priority has also reached those regional libraries that have not been interested in its implementation to date. An increasing demand for training services and consultancy has also been evident. The development of the DCH platform and the Digital Library has sped up and prioritised the digitisation processes of many libraries in regional Latvia.

Figure 4 – The digital collections of regional libraries published in the Digital Library (as of December 2024)^[9].

Table 1 provides a more detailed overview of the digitisation and dissemination of the local historic collections of the four regional libraries available in the Digital Library. The table shows that two collections were published in 2023 – the Gulbene Local History Collection and the Collection of Cultural Materials of the Kuldīga Region^[10] – and two in 2024: the Talsu Local History Collection and the Jēkabpils Local History Collection.^[11] The table includes data on the name of each collection, reflecting the set of digitised materials from the library of the specific region; the date of publication of the collection (the date when the collection became publicly available in the Digital Library); the number of digital objects – the total number of digitised objects (photographs, documents, objects, etc.) – in each collection; and the number of views, that is, the total number of times digital objects in the collection have been viewed in a given period (01.01.2024–01.09.2024). In order to compare the usability of different collections more objectively, a coefficient has been calculated between the total number of views and the total number of digital objects; this ratio allows the popularity of different collections to be compared, regardless of their size.

The number of views of a collection is influenced by a number of factors, including the duration since the collection was published, the number and subject matter of the digital objects included and publicity initiatives both within the Digital Library and by the partners themselves. The duration of time since a collection’s publication has an impact on the views of the collection – the longer a collection has been available to a wider audience, the more the Digital Library users have had access to this digital content. Another factor is the total number of digital objects in the collection and its thematic scope. Each regional library develops the content of a collection differently, focusing on historical or contemporary events. For example, the number of views of the Gulbene Local History Collection is higher than that of the Jēkabpils Local History Collection, indicating that both factors – duration and volume – have a positive effect. The Gulbene collection is already known to users, has received more publicity and comprises a significantly higher number of objects, although both collections have a similar scope of content. An important factor in increasing the number of views of a collection is the interest and capacity of the regional libraries themselves to publicise their collections on social networks and on their library websites, as well as to highlight them on the front page of the Digital Library.

The coefficient indicator measures the interest of users in a given collection, which allows for comparisons between collections of different sizes and the interest of users. Noteworthily, the greater the number of digital objects in a collection, the more likely it is that more Digital Library users will find objects in that collection using the search function. By comparing the number of digital objects in a collection with the number of views (Figure 5), it is possible to evaluate proportionally how the size, content, publicity and other factors affect the total number of views of a collection. By judging the current situation, it is possible to assess which collections need more visibility and additional highlighting in the Digital Library in order to bring more users to these collections.

By analysing the data in Table 1, it is possible to determine the impact of the duration of publications and the number of digital objects on the popularity of the collections. The Collection of Cultural Materials from the Kuldīga Region is the most popular collection with the highest coefficient. This means that this collection has attracted the most interest from users, followed by the Talsu Local History Collection and the Gulbene Local History Collection.

Regarding the effect of the duration of publications, there is no clear correlation between the duration of a publication and the number of views. For example, the most popular collection is not the oldest one. This may suggest that other factors, such as the content of the collection and the publicity given to it, are more important. However, collections with more digital objects (The Collection of Cultural Materials from the Kuldīga Region and Gulbene Local History Collection) are usually also more popular. Nevertheless, the coefficient shows that this is not the only determining factor.

The coefficient allows for a simplified evaluation of public interest in the cultural heritage digitised by regional libraries. There is a direct correlation between the number of views and publicity activities. Collections that have been more intensively publicised both within the Digital Library and at a regional level attract more users. In addition, other factors such as the quality of metadata, which increases the discoverability of digital objects, also influences the views of collections. Further research is needed to gain a more detailed understanding of the factors influencing the popularity of collections, through analysing more data and considering other aspects such as user demographics and search queries.

Future Directions for Development

Future developments of the DCH platform and the Digital Library will focus on both technological solutions and attracting new institutional partners from the cultural, educational, and public sectors, with the aim of enhancing user experience and broadening access to cultural heritage. To achieve this, plans include the development of modern content browsing tools, improving the discoverability of digital objects, and expanding collaboration with museums, universities, and research institutions (Bandere & Ķikāne, 2024).

As the network of partners grows, it will be essential to continue developing and enhancing training programmes that provide knowledge and expertise in digitisation. These efforts will support the development and transfer of this knowledge to regional digital competence centres, thereby facilitating knowledge exchange and capacity-building across the regions.

Conclusion

The Digital Library has become an important solution for the preservation, accessibility and promotion of Latvia’s cultural heritage. It provides wide access to digital resources, promoting research, education and cultural understanding. As a result of cooperation with its partners, the Digital Library brings together the collections of various institutions and individuals, ensuring a synergy of content and making Latvia’s cultural heritage accessible to a wide audience in Latvia and beyond.

While each library’s collection is unique, the DCH platform provides a common infrastructure and standards that enable the efficient management and long-term preservation of digital content. Due to the accessibility of the platform and the services developed to engage partners, more and more regional libraries are becoming actively involved in digitising their cultural heritage and creating a shared digital heritage. The development of the DCH platform has had a significant impact on the digitisation processes of Latvia’s regional libraries, encouraging more active involvement and participation. The collaboration with regional libraries has not only added to the content of the Digital Library, but has also fostered synergies between the collections of different partners, enabling users to get to know more about Latvia’s cultural diversity.

As a Centre of Excellence for Digital Cultural Heritage, the NLL provides essential support to regional libraries, helping them overcome the challenges of the digitisation process, as well as contributing significantly to the transfer of knowledge and skills to the regions through building and developing a regional digital-competence network. With targeted training, personalised services and support, regional partners have acquired the knowledge required to independently manage their digital collections and use the DCH platforms. This process has contributed to awareness raising and digital skills development in the regions and has enabled the country’s digital transformation objectives to be implemented effectively.

Overall, the approach taken to engage regional partners has been successful. The initial efforts have created sustained interest and motivation for libraries to start and/or continue digitisation processes. This shows that with the necessary support and infrastructure, it is possible to effectively mobilise regional resources and build a shared national digital heritage. However, to achieve even more ambitious goals, such as implementing AI solutions, speech-to-text conversion, data and text mining for researchers, create platform for users to contribute their own digital objects to enrich Latvia’s digital cultural heritage, it is necessary to further develop the DCH platform and adapt support activities to the changing needs.

References

Abstract

The Digital Library of Latvia is a national digital resource where Latvian cultural institutions – libraries, archives, museums, organisations – and private collectors collaborate, preserve and present Latvia’s digital cultural heritage in one place. The Digital Library provides access to more than 3.8 million digital items of various kinds – texts, images, museum objects, archival items, video and audio recordings, 3D objects – offering a synergy of content from more than 650 partners. It has become an important tool for the preservation and promotion of Latvia’s cultural heritage, bringing together the digital collections of various institutions and individuals, providing broad access to Latvia’s cultural assets and promoting research, education and cultural understanding. This article discusses the Digital Library’s cooperation with various partners, focusing mainly on regional libraries as custodians of important cultural heritage. The involvement of regional libraries has diversified the content of the Digital Library, fostering synergies between different partners and revealing the diversity of Latvian culture. The National Library of Latvia, as a Centre of Excellence for Digital Cultural Heritage, provides essential support to regional libraries, enhancing their capacity to build and manage their digital collections. The Digital Library, as part of the Latvian Digital Cultural Heritage (DCH) platform, is not only a technological solution, but also a tool for the long-term preservation of Latvia’s cultural heritage. It provides a common infrastructure, standardised processes and a support system that enables the efficient management and preservation of digital content. The creation and development of a single DCH platform has generated sustained interest in digitisation and fostered cooperation among libraries, museums and other institutions in regional Latvia. However, to achieve even more ambitious goals, it is necessary to further develop the platform and adapt support activities for changing needs.

Keywords

Digitisation; Cooperation; Digital Library of Latvia; Digital cultural heritage platform; National Library of Latvia; Latvia