Digitalization of cultural content in the Republic of Belarus

A number of regulatory acts were adopted for digitalization in Belarus: Decree No. 8 On the Development of Digital Technologies, the Strategy for the Development of Informatization in the Republic of Belarus for 2016–2020, and the State Program for the Development of the Digital Economy and Information Society for 2016–2020. Moreover, today the High-Tech Park operates as a key institute of digital transformations in the country. The creation of a Ministry of Digital Economy has been discussed, and the establishment of an IT university is planned. The main emphasis in the development and implementation of digital technologies has been made towards the creation of an information and communication infrastructure and conditions for electronic communication between the government bodies, business community, and citizens. In Belarus, as of January 1, 2019, 74% of the population are Internet-users. According to the National Statistics Committee, 83% of the city and 67.9% of the rural population have access to the Internet. The total number of mobile subscribers in Belarus is 11.87 mln (126%), and 62% of the subscribers have access to 3G and 4G networks (67% of the subscribers in the world). Digitalization has affected all areas of social life, including culture. Nowadays, the automation of the accounting processes and paperwork management of the collections of libraries, museums, and archives has been fully completed, about 0,6 mln library collections, and 70% of museum collections have been fully digitalized. The access to the documentary, library, and museum collections is provided through open online resources: the electronic library catalog (https://e-catalog.nlb.by) and the State Museum Collections Catalogue of the Republic of Belarus (https://www.dkmf.by/about). There are also databases of tangible immovable cultural property, intangible cultural heritage (www.livingheritage.by), archaeological monuments. The digitalization of the treasures of the Belarusian National Film Fund was carried out by the State Archive of Cinema and Photo Documents of the Republic of Belarus and the Museum of Belarusian Cinema. About 60% of the country's film fund is digitized. Nowadays, there are about 142 thousand domains registered in the national domain zone, including 15 thousand in the ".бел" Cyrillic zone and 127 thousand in the ".by" zone in the Republic of Belarus. About 30% of the domains are cultural resources. As for music, the independent Belarusian music portal https://zaycev.net is popular. Musical compositions are distributed there in accordance with contracts with the copyright holders (legal entities and individuals). There is a cultural and educational Internet platform — The World of Classical Music (https://classicalmusic.by) — for those who prefer classic music. In 2017, on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Belarusian book printing, the National Library of Belarus issued a full facsimile edition of Francisk Skaryna's book collection in 20 volumes. Most of the original editions of his works are in the libraries of the Russian Federation, Poland, Great Britain, Lithuania, Germany, and the USA. There are only 10 incomplete Skaryna's works in Belarus. Meticulous library and information studies allowed to choose the best preserved and the most complete copies, including Skorina's famous "Psalter". There are only two copies of this book in the world, and both of them are incomplete. As a result, about 300 Skaryna's editions have been collected and digitized. Today, the full collection of facsimile copies (20 volumes) are kept in the National Library, and a part of the archive is freely accessible on the Internet. The prints retain all the features of paper, pencil and pen marks in the margins of the books, stains, and tears. They have not been retouched to maintain all the features. The facsimile edition opened up the possibility of exploring the past to a wide range of readers. Previously, only scientists had access to the 500-year-old copies. But now the publication has been sent to all universities, city and district libraries of the country, museums, and other institutions named after the first printer.