LEBANESE ARMENIAN PURCHASES EQUIPMENT FOR DIGITALIZATION FOR MATENADARAN
By Rouzan Poghosian
AZG Armenian Daily
28/06/2007
Having followed the recent events connected with the digitalization of
the ancient manuscripts of Matenadaran, Pierre Gouyoumjian, Lebanese
Armenian, decided to be useful for Matenadaran. About a fortnight ago,
he met with the leadership of Matenadaran and told them that he had
decided to purchase digitalization equipment for the institute of
Ancient Manuscripts. Gouyoumjian and the scholars from Matenadaran
had already jointly discussed the programs for digitalization of
the manuscripts and creation of electronic libraries. A week ago,
he arrived in Yerevan and brought the abovementioned equipment to
Matenadaran. According to Guyoumjian, the equipment purchased for
Matenadaran is more powerful than that in "Hill" American Museum
of Manuscripts.
Arshak Banouchian, acting head of Matenadaran, they have already
submitted the sketches of the digitalization project to RA
Government, but the project will be fully elaborated only after three
months. Gouyoumjian and Banouchian signed an agreement on exploitation
of the newly purchased equipment that will be tested in the
photo-laboratory of Matenadaran for 2 months. Banoiuchian emphasized
the importance of having such equipment in Matanadaran. "As soon as
I heard about the recent developments with the digitalization of the
Matenadaran manuscripts, I decided to purchase the best equipment and
bring that to Armenia, as I know that we have great IT specialists
in Yerevan who will be able to carry out the digitalization process
at best. Having used this equipment, we will be able to define in 2
months how much time we will need to digitalize the entire collection
of unique manuscripts," Gouyoumjian said.
It is expected that the digitalization program will be discussed
at Matenadaran in August, then at the relevant Ministry and
at the Government. Before that, within the coming two months,
the administration of Matenadarn is ready to accept cooperation
suggestions from individuals and various organizations.