Published on 26 May 2016
Slowly, but surely, the "Books Discovered Once Again" project completed sixteen months of its existence. During this time many materials were researched and documented, and many texts were written. Our activities provoked numerous responses and the interest not only of experts. However, it must be said that twelve thousand processed documents account only for a small part of the reserve collections of the National Library. There is a lot of work ahead to be done.
However, this work, somewhat different for both librarians and researchers, shall continue. Within the EEA and Norwegian Funds we have applied for follow-up in the form of an extension project and bilateral cooperation with Stiftelsen Arkivet. In the first bilateral cooperation we shall focus particularly on research into provenance signs. The documentation of the reserve collections resulted in the formation of an extensive database of bookplates and stamps, of which we have selected another twenty interesting owners for deeper research. The goal of the second bilateral cooperation will be the creation of an educative programme, "Tracking the Books", the purpose of which is to find out why certain books were considered dangerous and what their fate was. The programme shall utilise modern interactive tools. We shall continue publicising the project both by extending the website and by releasing new outputs, such as a promotional video.
Within the extension project we shall focus on determining a broader context for the provenance of cultural values. The result of this exploration shall be a study describing the provenance of the books and a list or archive materials which may serve as the base for further historical research.