Digitization is an essential method in supporting remote research possibilities in a vastly changed era.
Libraries and archives are resuming their services in some parts of the world, but Europe is still hard hit with the pandemic. This reason and the very fact that our mother institution, the Central European University (CEU), has moved to Vienna inspired colleagues to come up with a solution that would help to diminish the distance between researchers and our collections.
The idea put to the test is a new service introduced a few weeks ago called Digitization on Demand. It is designed to help researchers to use the unique resources the Blinken OSA could only offer onsite now online as well.
Where to start?
Before making requests, researchers are advised to browse our online catalog. We also advise researchers to check if the content they need is already available in our Digital Repository and Curated Collections. If not, they can send a request to our staff.
The good news is that one researcher can request up to two archival folders, meaning about two hundred pages per month. If audiovisual content is needed, two films can be requested monthly. As it is an essential part of our service to accommodate the research needs of Visegrad Grantees and CEU students, additional requests for archival materials would be considered.
More detailed information about how the service operates: https://www.osaarchivum.org/research-room/digitization-on-demand
The Blinken OSA has been developing and maintaining various online sources since digitization had become an important focus of archival institutions. One such example is the Parallel Archive, a web content storage, and creation tool. Visitors and researchers alike can find more archival resources on our YouTube channel and other social media sites.