Projects by AGH University Main Library with funding from Scientific Social Responsibility programme

Project: Polish Standards issued in 1924–1945. Digitisation and dissemination
funding amount: PLN 107,674.60

The collection of historical Polish Standards in the AGH University Main Library has an enormous value for science and its legacy. It constitutes a unique source of information on technical standards applicable in Poland in the interwar period, reflecting the then development of science and technology. The preserved collection of standards is of such an extraordinary character due to the fact that it contains the first Polish Standards, namely PN-O 101 of 1924, a model standardisation table, a document on the rules for establishing Polish Standards, and PN-F 401 of 1925 concerning the reference temperature. The said standards as well as the majority of standards from the interwar period are often the only copies of documents in the country that have survived to the present.

The collection of standards which is to be digitised comprises 1246 standardisation documents, 1231 of which are Polish Standards or thematic collections of Polish Standards issued by the Polish Committee for Standardization. The standards were issued predominantly in 1924–1939, with some issued shortly after the end of military actions in 1945. Two more items are the pricing and the list of Polish Standards issued by the Polish Committee for Standardization.

Project: Digitisation of the research and scientific output of the Mining Academy Professors in 1919–1945. Part 2
funding amount: PLN 56,273.69

The aim of the project is to disseminate information about the historical collection of works, textbooks and teaching materials of professors of the Mining Academy in Krakow from 1919–1945, and to make them available digitally on computers in the reading rooms of the AGH University Main Library, on the intranet, and in open access via the AGH University Repository, depending on the date of publication and copyright considerations.

The project will involve the digitisation of works, textbooks and teaching materials written by professors at the Academy between 1919 and 1945. The selection of items for digitisation was based on their historical and scientific value, poor state of preservation, importance for the dissemination of science, and uniqueness in terms of publishing.

The collection of these documents, often valuable, bringing us closer to the history of technical education and scientific achievements in Poland between the wars and during the Second World War, is an important component of the national and European technical and scientific heritage.

The final result of the project will be the digital dissemination of 41 digitised items (7953 scans) by means of computers in the reading rooms of the AGH University Main Library, on the intranet, and in the AGH University Repository, on DSpace.

The creation of a digital version and a copy of this unique collection will finish the protection process of said pieces of scientific and cultural heritage.

The present project constitutes a natural continuation of Part 1 and is co-financed with funds from the state budget granted by the Minister of Education and Science within the Scientific Social Responsibility programme, module: Support for scientific libraries, implemented from 1.11.2022 to 31.07.2024.