The Silesian Digital Library ( (ŚBC); ), abbreviated as SDL – a

digital library A digital library (also called an online library, an internet library, a digital repository, a library without walls, or a digital collection) is an online database of digital resources that can include text, still images, audio, video, digital ...

co-created by various institutions representing the area of

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

and

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

in the historical

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

and the

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship ( ) is an administrative province in southern Poland. With over 4.2 million residents and an area of 12,300 square kilometers, it is the second-most populous, and the most-densely populated and most-urbanized region of Poland ...

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 ...

Overview

The Silesian Digital Library is divided into collections: Bibliophile collection, Cultural heritage, Educational and Scientific Materials, Miscellanea and Regional. The collections present cultural heritage of the region, national, European and world cultural heritage collected in the region, scientific publications, educational and teaching materials, and other contributed by participating institutions. The Silesian Digital Library is included in the national system of digital libraries, and therefore also enables direct access to materials published in other regional and institutional digital libraries. Descriptions of publications of the Silesian Digital Library are indexed and can be searched by global search engines. The SDL offers 5 language versions of the user interface:

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

, English,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

Organization

Digital content of the Silesian Digital Library is created distributively by each participating institution of the SDL. Participants publish on equal rights and each of them decides autonomously which publications and how many of them will be published. Resources published in the SDL are available to non-commercial users free of charge. Conditions of commercial use of the SDL materials depend on the decision of copyright owners of digital publications. Each Participant takes responsibility for solving the problem of

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, ...

, making sure the rights are terminated or concluding an agreement with an owner of the rights. The organizational coordinator of the SDL is the

Silesian Library Silesian Library (), is one of the most modern libraries in Poland, and is located in the south-western city of Katowice, Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, ...

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

. The SDL content and its main infrastructure is situated in the Silesian Library which supports the SDL domains, provides the Internet connection and administers its system.

History

The Silesian Digital Library (SDL) was initiated by the founding Agreement between the

and the

University of Silesia The University of Silesia in Katowice () is an autonomous state-run university in Katowice, Silesia Province, Poland. The university offers higher education and research facilities. It offers undergraduate, masters, and PhD degree programs, ...

signed on July 20, 2006 by Prof. Janusz Janeczek (Rector of the University of Silesia) and Prof. Jan Malicki (Director of the Silesian Library). The aim of the agreement was to work out the principles of open participation of other institutions in the region. Principles of co-creation of the SDL are regulated by the Agreement on co-creation of the Silesian Digital Library, which has been established together by all institutions declaring the participation in the SDL, on October 24, 2006. The agreement is open in its character and all institutions sharing its aims and representing the area of culture, education and science can participate in it. The official opening of the Silesian Digital Library took place on September 27, 2006 and was carried out by the Vice-Marshal of the Śląskie (Silesian) Voivodeship Sergiusz Karpiński.

External links

The Silesian Digital Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slaska Biblioteka Cyfrowa Culture of Silesia Polish digital libraries