The aim of the project is to ensure the systematic digitisation of the Latvian National Library collections, as well as those of other similar institutions, and make them available over the internet. Digitisation will enable the better preservation of the original and will give people the choice of consulting the original document at the library or a digital copy of it on their own computer. On-line users of the digital collection will be offered various search options, high-quality digital documents and a zoom feature.

The first stage in this ambitious project will be a pilot project to digitise all the essays, articles, photographs, letters, sound recordings and other material related to the Latvian composer Jazeps Vitols (1863-1948). Jazeps Vitols is considered to be the first truly universal master of Latvian music. He was a professor of composition at St Petersburg Conservatory until 1918, when he returned to Latvia to become both Rector and Professor of Composition at the Latvian Conservatory in Riga.

The composer’s work was chosen for two reasons: for his cultural significance, and for the wide variety of media involved, which will require finding individual solutions for the digitisation of each type of material. The pilot project will also test models for co-operation between different libraries, both in Latvia and abroad.

The Latvian Digital Library, along with those in other countries, will build the foundations of the European Digital Library.

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