Culture Ministry, FITR issue call for digitization of manuscripts
Skopje, 23 August 2021 (MIA) – Over five million written documents, collected for decades by professionals from all over the country that are preserved in cardboard boxes at the Krste Misirkov Institute for Macedonian Language, will be digitized as part of a joint project of the Culture Ministry and the Fund for Innovations and Technology Development (FITR).
On Monday, they issued a call for companies to take part in the project. Applications should be submitted by October 21, 2021.
The project aims at preserving the manuscripts adequately and urgently. The plan is to create a digital archive in the next two years so as to protect them with some of them written more than 500 years ago. Also, a search software will be designed to make the digitized manuscripts available to Macedonian language researchers and students from the country and abroad.
The winning company will be awarded 14 million denars, including nine million provided by the Fund and 5 million by the Culture Ministry.
“If we all agree that Macedonian language is the key to cultural identity, then to protect it has to be top priority. We want to and we have to preserve these manuscripts for next generations who are born in the digital era,” Culture Minister Irena Stefoska told a news conference on Monday.
Card indexes, she added, contain hundreds of thousands of words from old manuscripts written centuries ago in Macedonian churches and monasteries, several million lists containing words used every day in dialects that are characteristic for over 400 settlements.
“If the collected manuscripts aren’t preserved, they will no longer reflect the real situation on the ground. It might result in us losing and neglecting invaluable linguistic wealth,” Stefoska stressed.
According to FITR head Kosta Petrov, micro, small or medium-sized companies are invited to apply. Application forms are available at fitr.mk/digitalmk/.
“The call aims at stimulating innovations for preservation. The project has a purpose to protect and advance cultural heritage,” Petrov told the news conference.
Card indexes, she added, contain hundreds of thousands of words from old manuscripts written centuries ago in Macedonian churches and monasteries, several million lists containing words used every day in dialects that are characteristic for over 400 settlements.
“If the collected manuscripts aren’t preserved, they will no longer reflect the real situation on the ground. It might result in us losing and neglecting invaluable linguistic wealth,” Stefoska stressed.
According to FITR head Kosta Petrov, micro, small or medium-sized companies are invited to apply. Application forms are available at fitr.mk/digitalmk/.
“The call aims at stimulating innovations for preservation. The project has a purpose to protect and advance cultural heritage,” Petrov told the news conference. 
