Books in the Groningen dialect about to be scanned. Photo: Knowledge Centre for Groningen’s Language and Culture

UG digitises everything from books to instruments

The UG will be digitising a hundred thousand objects from its ‘academic heritage’, making them accessible to the public. The objects range from fifteenth century books to the university’s oldest scientific instrument.

24 February om 10:08 uur.
Laatst gewijzigd op 24 February 2021
om 10:08 uur.

February 24 at 10:08 AM.
Last modified on February 24, 2021
at 10:08 AM.

Door Giulia Fabrizi

24 February om 10:08 uur.
Laatst gewijzigd op 24 February 2021
om 10:08 uur.

By Giulia Fabrizi

February 24 at 10:08 AM.
Last modified on February 24, 2021
at 10:08 AM.

The project is aptly named ‘Spotlight’ and will run until early 2022. The UG board of directors is investing 700,000 euros in the project.

The objects in the collection all come with an extensive description and will be available for academic research and education, as well as to people who are interested in the history of the northern region.

‘Project Spotlight will make collections and resources that are currently only available at the university itself, accessible from anywhere in the world’, says Wian Stienstra, project leader at the UB.

Groningen dialect

Stienstra isn’t the only one who’s enthusiastic about the project. Professor of Frisian language and culture Goffe Jensma, who leads the part of the project digitising Groningen books dating from the eighteenth century to now, thinks the project will provide great opportunities.

‘This project is a big step in the research into the development of the Groningen dialect and all its variations’, he says.

The digitised materials will be published with existing collections and will be available through Open Access wherever possible.

Dutch