Project Rastko — Internet Library of Serb Culture () is a non-profit and non-governmental publishing, cultural and educational project dedicated to Serb and Serb-related

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

s and

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

. It is named after Rastko Nemanjić.

Project

The project was established in 1997 as a part of a pan-regional Balkans Cultural Network Initiative . Its main activities are: *

electronic publishing Electronic publishing (also referred to as e-publishing, digital publishing, or online publishing) includes the digital publication of e-books, digital magazines, and the development of digital libraries and catalogues. It also includes the ed ...

in the fields of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n and Serbian-related arts and humanities * scientific and cultural conferences and studies about

Balkan The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

cultural-civilizational integration * bilateral and multilateral activities with other Balkan and world countries * establishing regional centres * technical training The apex of the project is its electronic library with more than half a

gigabyte The gigabyte () is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. The SI prefix, prefix ''giga-, giga'' means 109 in the International System of Units (SI). Therefore, one gigabyte is one billion bytes. The unit symbol for the gigabyte i ...

of material, comprising

electronic books An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...

and articles,

photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitivity, photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. Th ...

s and comics. Although most texts are Serbian, there is a body of material in other languages, again mostly in English and Russian, but also in French, German, Spanish, and other languages. The library contains material in both the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

and

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...

ed texts published with the authors' permissions, dating from earliest

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Serb texts to contemporary

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

. The site of the project also hosts several sites not directly related to the project. Project Rastko also hosts the European version of Distributed Proofreaders, which intends to supply

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital li ...

with public domain texts in European languages. Project Rastko is organising a coalition of European e-libraries for the purpose of collecting public domain works, aiming to eventually have a node of Distributed Proofreaders in each European country.

Centres

Currently (2007) the project has following regional centres: #

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Projekt Rastko — Denmark
network of electronic libraries and achievements regarding Danish culture and Danish-Serbian cultural and historical links) #

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

Project Rastko — Macedonia
electronic library of culture and tradition of Macedonia) #

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Project Rastko — Russia
# The Drina
Project Rastko — The Drina
electronic library of culture and tradition of the Drina) # Kashubians
Project Rastko — Kashubia
e-library of culture and tradition of Kashubians) #

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

Project Rastko — Slovenia
e-library of Slovenian-Serbian cultural ties) # Gora
Project Rastko — Gora
e-library of culture and tradition of Gora and Goranies) #

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Project Rastko — Poland
library of Polish-Serbian cultural links) #

Lusatia Lusatia (; ; ; ; ; ), otherwise known as Sorbia, is a region in Central Europe, formerly entirely in Germany and today territorially split between Germany and modern-day Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the eas ...

Project Rastko — Lusatia
electronic library of Sorbian-Serbian cultural ties) #

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Project Rastko — Bulgaria
library of Bulgarian-Serbian cultural links) #

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

Project Rastko — Shkoder
library of Slavs in Albania and Albanian-Slavic cultural links) # Bosnian Krajina
Project Rastko — Banja Luka
electronic library of culture and tradition of the Bosnian Krajina) #

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Project Rastko — Kiev-Lavov
electronic library of Ukrainian-Serbian cultural links) #

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Project Rastko — Budapest-Saint Andrew
library of culture and tradition of the Serbs in Hungary) #

Bay of Kotor The Bay of Kotor ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Boka kotorska, Бока которска, separator=" / ", ), also known as the Boka ( sh-Cyrl, Бока), is a winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro and the region of Montenegro concentrated a ...

Project Rastko — Bay of Kotor
electronic library of culture and tradition of Bocca) #

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

Project Rastko — Cetinje
electronic library of culture and tradition of Montenegro) #

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

Project Rastko — Kosovo and Metohija
electronic library of culture and tradition of the southern Serbian province) #

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Project Rastko — Romania
library of the culture of Serbs in Romania) #

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Rastko Project — Italy
electronic library of Serbian-Italian cultural links) Each of them is autonomous, and develops its projects and activities through local academic, cultural, media NGOs and individuals, including strong co-operation with ethnic

minorities The term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...

centres. Future activities of Belgrade centre will include projects about Slovak,

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish and Roma/Gypsy as well as for 29 other ethnocultural minorities in South-Eastern Europe.

References

''This article incorporates some copyrighted text from the website of the project that is used with permission.''

External links

Project Rastko website

Project Gutenberg DP-EU

Foundation for Culture and Tradition of Boka Kotorska "Project Rastko-Boka"

Rastko-Boka Foundation
{{in lang, sr Serbian cultural organizations Serbian digital libraries Projects established in 1997 1997 establishments in Serbia Internet properties established in 1997

Project

Centres

See also

References

External links