FORUM 2013 

Digital Library – Technological and Social Issues

The third international NALIS Forum took place on 15 May in Sofia. Established specialists in library and archival studies from USA, Israel, Russia, Finland and Bulgaria shared important experience in creating digital libraries, suggested some visions for the future of these cultural institutions and their influence on education, talked about the free access to collections and the engagement of public in various related initiatives. (See the Forum programme here.)

HE  Marcie Ries (US Ambassador to Bulgaria), Carl H. Pforzheimer III (Co-Chairman of America for Bulgaria Foundation (ABF)), Vanya Tsankova (Director, Impact Assessment and Evaluation, ABF), Lynn Daft (member of the ABF Board of directors), Oren Weinberg (CEO of the National Library of Israel) and Ann Thornton (Andrew W. Mellon Director of the New York Public Libraries) at the Forum opening.		The firs presenters at the Forum: Prof. Boryana Hristova (Director of the St. St. Cyril and Methodius National Library) and Prof. Robert Darnton (University Librarian at the Harvard University) just before giving their talks on digitisation in their institutions and projects.
Ani Popova (Projects, Programs and International Activities Coordinator, BLIA) Sinika Sipila (president-elect of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) and Sabina Aneva (Deputy Executive Director of NALIS) attentively listening to Prof. B. Hristova’s presentation.		Prof. Alexander Sotnikov (Deputy Director of the Interdepartmental Supercomputer Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences)  and Daniela Atanasova (Deputy Director of the Central Library of BAS) in an informal conversation.
Prof. R. Darnton speaks about the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA).		B. Hristova and Dincho Krastev (Executive Director of NALISF and Director of the Central Library of BAS) during R.Darnton’s talk.
The NALIS team – Nicola Stoyanov, Ekaterina Dikova and Evgeni Dimitrov – among the audience at the Forum.		Ann Thornton underlines the importance of collaboration between libraries in digitisation.
Prof. A. Sotnikov presents the Scientific Heritage of the Digital Library of Russia.		D. Krastev, R. Darnton and M. Ivanov (Chairman of the Bulgarian Archives State Agency) discuss the future of both libraries and archives in the Web 2.0 environment.
Matti Shem Tov (President end CEO of Ex Libris Group) speaks about the possibilities of cloud computing in the library sector.		Oren Weinberg presents the influence of the institution he heads on the educational system in Israel.