Based on the National Info-communication Strategy, conceived in line with EU principles, the government launched the National Digital Development Programme in 2014. Government decisions 1404/2017 and 1175/2018 constituted the Digitising Strategy for Public Collections 2017-2025 (Közgyűjteményi Digitalizálási Stratégia – KDS), earmarking 15.2 billion HUF (ca. 50 million EUR) for the first four years. The text of the strategy is available at KDS portal (https://kds.gov.hu/). It discusses all aspects of the issue, including preceding and related projects, relevant EU measures, foreign samples, and a detailed design of the procedures to follow. An additional White Book elaborates on the standards and technicalities of digitisation. The portal displays the progression of the programme in detail. In August 2021, there were 5 033 801 documents accessible in the programme. Beyond museum, library, and archival items, there are 27 virtual exhibitions and 23 films of various character and length included.
The Petőfi Literature Museum runs the Digital Literary Academy, which keeps digitised oeuvres of contemporary writers who make their works available on the Internet by contract. Created in 1998, this unique endeavour has between 30 and 40 members at any time. New members are co-opted by old members once a year to replace those who are deceased. The full oeuvre of new members is digitised, put on free display, and their authors receive a monthly allowance four times the value of the official minimum wage. In 2021 the programme hosts the works of 101 past and current members. In addition, the works of earlier writers are digitised: their numbers are close to those of past and present members.
The Hungaricana project of the Library of Parliament aims at sharing Hungarian cultural heritage amassed in various collections. Its special features are historical maps and postcards. This is a free service unlike the huge digital collections of Arcanum Ltd. This private enterprise specialises in Hungarian language periodicals and books, but also features a variety of maps.
Comments are closed.