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The Matenadaran, Armenia’s national repository of ancient manuscripts, digitized a total of 543 manuscripts in 2019, Vahe Torosyan, Scientific Secretary of the Matenadaran, told Panorama.am.

He noted that mainly Armenian manuscripts are digitized by the repository. The Matenadaran is home to a total of 11,350 Armenian manuscripts,the secretary said.

Accordng to Vahe Torosyan, a total of 6,598 manuscripts have been digitized to date, with the digitization of palimpsest manuscripts requiring much efforts. Overall, 31 palimpsests have been digitized so far, he says, adding the Matenadaran plans to acquire a new scanner which will enable them to digitize difficult-to-open manuscripts.

“There are manuscripts, the back of which is sewn in a way that if we open it completely it will be broken. As a rule, we do not digitize them. We have to tear it down completely and sew the back again, or we can get a scanner that will scan them in V-shape opening,” he said.

According to the data, in 2019 2,851 manuscripts and 705 archival documents were served. 440 archival documents were digitized last year.

The digitization of manuscripts kept at the Matenadaran started in 2007-2008.