Digital Documentary Collections of National Cultural Heritage on the Ukrainian Regional State Archives Websites

Abstract

The study analyzes the processes of digitization performed by Regional State Archives of Ukraine. These trends have become noticeable since 2016, reaching the highest point in 2019-2020. As of 2020, there are still a small number of articles and scientific papers on the problems of cultural heritage document digitization of Regional State Archives of Ukraine. The monitoring research of Ukraine's regional state archive websites indicates significant changes in the website organizational structure, their thematic content in comparison with 2016. In 2020, it was established that all Regional State Archives of Ukraine have e-archives compared to 2016. It has been found that e-archives provide up-to-date information. Scientific reference information, namely electronic guides/reference books, metric books, electronic records were discovered. It is emphasized that the development of digital communication has a great impact on the dissemination and promotion of cultural heritage through social networks, blogs, and tags. There is a significant lag between development of cultural heritage documents in Ukraine and foreign archival institutions. These concerns resulted from the long-term absence of document digitization policy, which appeared in spontaneous selection of archival documents and their amounts. In recent research studies, a significant emphasis is placed on observing the need of website organizational structure optimization and storage of digital document copies to improve content management efficiency allowing users to quickly access a document. The importance of thematic diversification of digital cultural heritage collections is emphasized.