E-ARCHIVE: International conference marks conclusion of the project “Cross Border E-archive”

At the opening session of the conference warm welcoming remarks were given to all conference participants and guests by H.E. Mati Vaarmann, Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to the Republic of Latvia, Mr. Rihards Kols, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, and Ms. Unda Ozoliņa, Head of the Joint Technical Secretariat of Estonia-Latvia-Russia Cross Border Cooperation Programme. After that the audience was introduced to activities and results produced by the project and to a newly launched online platform "Cross Border E-Archive", which includes archival materials selected and digitalized in the course of the project. The platform in four languages – English, Estonian, Latvian and Russian – is available under the web address www.earchive-estlatrus.eu.


During the second session of the conference, representatives from a number of culture and memory institutions presented a selection of technological solutions for digitalizing the cultural heritage.


The purport of the “Cross Border E-archive” is to retain the historical and cultural heritage of the Estonian, Latvian and Russian borderline region, and to ensure that the heritage can be accessed by the residents of all the three countries. The outcome of the Project is 11 000 digitalized documents (texts, photographs and maps) and over 500 000 units of documents made available to the residents of the three countries and all other interested parties. The digitalized documents belong to the 19th century and early 20th century, and they refer to the whole of the territory of Estonia, the city of Riga and the Latvian regions of Vidzeme and Latgale, as well as the city of St. Petersburg and region of Leningrad in Russia.   


The digitalized archive documents are offered to the users of the newly launched portal within four thematic collections: 1) student files, i. e. the personal files of  students and university professors of the institutions of higher learning in the regions; 2) maps; 3) church records; 4) miscellaneous documents including matriculation records of the Tartu (Dorpat) University and the Riga Polytechnic Institute, various personal documents of the residents, and confessional records of some parishes. The descriptions of the documents and the portal interface are available in four above mentioned languages. 


The Project has five co-operation partners: Culture Information Systems Centre, the association “Ideju forums”, the National Archives of Latvia, the National Archives of Estonia and the St. Petersburg Information and Analytical Centre; the Archival Committee of St. Petersburg has also been involved in the Project as an associate partner.


The documents for the portal were selected and offered by the Estonian Historical Archives and State Archives, the Central State Historical Archives and Central State Archives of St. Petersburg, the Russian State Historical Archives and the Latvian State Historical Archives. 



Information is prepared by
Ilma Elsberga, public relation specialist of the Project “Cross Border E-archive”
Phone: 7844902; e-mail: ilma.elsberga@kis.gov.lv