A presentation detailing the digitization of the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency’s (BTA) vast historical archives was given at the 40th Media Innovation Network (MINDS) conference in Vienna. The conference, held from April 22 to 24, focused on utilizing artificial intelligence and advanced methods to maintain accessible and reliable information bases. The BTA’s collection spans over 125 years and comprises millions of news bulletins and hundreds of thousands of photographs documenting global and Bulgarian events.
Representatives from the agency, including Director General Kiril Valchev, presented the ongoing project. This initiative is part of a Ministry of Culture effort to digitize national cultural assets and received BGN 4 million in funding, with work scheduled to continue until June 2026. During the forum, project leads detailed the complexities of the digitization process, which included overcoming challenges such as deciphering content written in old Bulgarian orthography, restoring damaged pages, and managing metadata for historical photographs.
Progress was highlighted by showcasing the digitization of the 1898 news bulletin, which covered topics from royal health updates to Balkan stock markets. To date, 37 specialists have digitized 4.4 million out of 5.3 million pages and 644,000 out of 1
Topics: #archives #minds #conference
