DIGITAL COLLECTIONS
Hakob Meghapart Project
The Hakob Meghapart Project, named after the first Armenian to print books in the Armenian language, “… includes all materials printed inArmenian up to the year 1800, among them: books, maps, calendars-amulets, licenses, pictures with Armenian titles and other kinds of printed matters, in other words, all that was printed in Armenian letters.” Moreover, foreign language books of the sixteenth century, which contained Armenian texts or included Armenian languages and passasges, are also included. This massive collection is divided into six period sections and one “undated books” section: 1512-1600; 1600-1700; 1700-1725; 1725-1750; 1750-1775; 1775-1800. The undated books section, “whose date of publication is not given bibliographic source or since the book was defective, it was not possible to clarify the date.
400 Years of Armenian Printing
Celebrating 400 years of Armenian printing, this website houses digitized materials, which were selected for historical value and cultural importance. The digitized collection includes books, anthologies, and articles. Researchers can search the collection using the following search options: “browse documents by title,” by clicking on the title tab; “browse documents by author,” by clicking the author tab; “browse documents by item type”; “browse documents by source”; “browse documents by date,” by clicking on the date tab. The digitized materials are in **** format and be downloaded. Researchers can access this collection directly at:
Digital Library of Classical Armenian Literature
The Digital Library of Classical Armenian Literature was established in 1999 as a “… platform for the collection, digitization, preservation, and presentation to worldwide audiences some of the enormous cultural wealth contained in the rich holdings of the Armenian national repositories all over the world.” The digital library contains the works of 625 authors and approximately 2000 titles. According to the curators of the digital library, this online repository provides additional information, not found in other digital depositories: “… provides a complete metadata and bibliographic references on each author and each work. The digitized works do not appear as mere images of the printed books in jpg or PDF formats, but represent fully searchable texts,” allowing researchers to search for keywords and phrases withing the collection.
Access: http://digilib.am/digilib/
Haybook: Armenian e-books
In terms of online digital depositories, the scope of this digital library is quiet expansive. According to the web editors of this digital library, Haybook [Armenian e-books] provides “… access to free electronic resources about literature, language and history.” Moreover, Haybook, “…gathers all available electronic resources about Armenian culture on the web and also provides provides information about Armenian digital libraries. This digital library is divided into approximately fifteen sections: Novels, Short Stories, Theater, Poetry, History, Classical Armenian, Language, for children, Dictionaries, Art, Religion, Digitized Armenian Manuscripts, Armenian History in English, Armenian songs and music, and online resources.
Access: http://haybook.wordpress.com/
National Library of Armenia: Digital Library
The digital library at the National Library of Armenia has a treasure trove of digitized materials. Among the digitized materials, researchers should pay particular attention to the following sections: Armenian Rare Books [1512-1800] Collection, Armenia Early Printed Books (1901-1920) Collection, and Digitized Map Collection, and the National Library of Armenia’s publications age. All of the titles listed in the publications page are available in PDF documents and can be downloaded directly. As for October 2012, unfortunately, the links to the digitized periodicals and the scrolls section are broken. The digital collections at the National Library of Armenia offer unparalleled access to Armenia publishing culture and literary traditions.
Access: http://www.nla.am/arm/?q=en/node/3
Matenadaran
If researchers are seeking a central location for digitized Armenian manuscripts, then the online Matenadaran [Manuscripts depository ] is such a place. There are a number embedded image viewing tools for researchers to interactive with the digitized manuscripts. Unfortunately, the employment of Adobe Flash Player delays the process of viewing the selected manuscripts. Nevertheless, scholars have access to numerous manuscripts and rare documents from one of the oldest depositories of the ancient world.
