Digital Technology and the Librarianship: German Experience

The article deals with the different ways of modern digital technology application to science and librarianship. The author gives an example of a geophysical survey in archeology, which became possible due to soil scanners of various types. Such archaeological research methods make it easier to identify a place for excavation. Another way to apply digital technology is 3 D modeling. This technology is very useful for the restoration of historical monuments. For example, researchers from the Institute for Digital Archaeology managed to create a digital copy of the Monumental Arch of Palmyra just before its destruction in 2015. Digital technology makes it possible to preserve books, research papers and manuscripts better. Digital copy of book does not tear and can’t be burned, and many users can read it at once. A great success in that direction is the Library Project of Google Corporation, started in 2004. The basic concern of this project is collaboration with libraries in order to digitize their books collections to make them accessible for any user. In this article the author considered the partnership of Google Corporation with the State Bavarian Library. A special department of the State Bavarian Library is the Munich Centre for Digitalization. It was founded for the digitization of books and long-term archiving. In addition, the Munich Center provides free access to its archival fund for scientists and researchers. The Munich Centre exploits scanners of various types for books, maps, manuscripts, newspapers, cinematic and photographic materials, antique books as well as for 3 d modeling. The functioning of digital archive of Munich Centre is provided by the Leibniz Data Centre of Bavarian Academy of science. As a Bavarian Library reports, in 2018 its digital archive recieved more than 8.5 million requests from users.