Purpose and main tasks:

Book collections stored in Ukrainian libraries are a true national heritage: scientific, cultural and historical. Its preservation and protection is one of the main tasks of libraries.

Scientific and Technical Library of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” owns a unique collection of scientific and technical literature that has been forming for over 100 years. Collection of books and periodicals of the 18^th-20^th centuries accumulates the achievements of national and world science and technology that have been created during many centuries by eminent scientists, researches and engineers of various fields.

Formed in the first half of the 20^th century, it displays a holistic picture of the engineering science, practice and industrial technologies’ development; the process of organizing technical education in Kyiv in particular and in Ukraine in general; the history of emergence and development of the national and European technical textbook and other types of manuals in our country and abroad. The historical collection also documents the process of organizing, establishing and development of one of the most respected European technical schools, linked to the names of many worldwide known scientists and scholars – past and present.

Most of library editions have marginal records, author’s notes, autographs, seals, due to which it’s possible to compile a vivid history of the book’s life, ways of fund formation and a history of certain disciplines’ teaching, which has been peculiar to Kyiv Polytechnic.

Modern information technologies provide ample opportunities of high-quality electronic presentation of the unique library collection of the University library. Due to Dlibra software, developed by the specialists of Poznan Center for Supercomputers and Networking Technologies, a project has been started to create Kyiv Polytechnic Digital Library. The software was provided by the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” within the project EaPConnect.

The main goal of Kyiv Polytechnic Digital Library is preservation of the unique cultural and historic heritage for future generations of Ukrainian scientists and researches, and at the same time to give them free access to that heritage to the national and world scientific community.

Gradually on the page of the electronic library there will be rare and valuable scientific and technical editions, materials from the university’s history, scientific works of professors and teachers up to the middle of the 20^th century, archival documents and documents of the social life of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”.

Among the priority tasks there are:

-       making of the electronic copies of the oldest editions to preserve the originals;

-       formation of the electronic collection of documents and materials of the history of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”;

-       providing access to previously unknown documents to the biggest possible audience of researches of the history of science and technology.

Benefits

-       replacement of the originals with electronic copies while servicing users;

-       easy and free access to the rare documents by any user (first of all virtual);

-       integration into the digital world of editions stored in the Scientific and Technical Library of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”;

-       long-term preservation of the scientific and cultural heritage;

-       securing the documents from theft and physical destruction;

-       promotion of book memorabilia stored in the library collections;

-       demolition of time and space barriers while using library resources.