About Pergamos

Pergamos had originally been developed as an integrated Digital Library System (DLS) for the uniform management, documentation, preservation and promotion of heterogeneous digital collections. Its development was incorporated into a single digital library strategy, implemented by the Libraries Computer Center (LCC) in the context of the project 'Enrichment and Upgrade of the University of Athens Library' of the 2nd “EPEAEK” (Scientific Director: Prof. M. Dermitzakis). The project envisioned the development, by the end of 2008, of ten (10) digital collections from libraries, archives or museums of the University of Athens.

LCC, through the development of Pergamos, has achieved its basic strategic goal: to bring the various collections together into a single digital library system and present them online in a uniform but flexible way. This objective safeguards the efficient management of collections and their emergence as integral parts of a central digital library, while providing adequate guarantees to ensure their long-term viability.

The same logic has been successfully applied in the implementation of the projects "Digital Collection of the NKUA Historical Archive" and the "Digital Collection of the Psachos Music Library" of the Operational Program "Information Society", Measure 1.3: "Documentation, Evaluation and Enlightenment" Invitation 65 (Scientific Manager: Professor Michalis Dermitzakis). The digital collection of the Historical Archive was, in fact, the very first collection to be posted on Pergamos (December 2006).

Continuing in the same digital policy framework, we proceeded to design and implement the new "Pergamos", now in the form of an Institutional Repository (IR). The new platform was developed in the framework of the Act "Creation of a Unified Digital Repository Platform and Related Electronic Information and Promotion Services for the NKUA Library" (MIS code 304160) of the NSRF Digital Convergence 2007-2013 Operational Program of the European Union (the contractor was UniSystems, the development of the Institutional Repository / Digital Library software was carried out by Niovity, while the management, custody and documentation of the material made by the Library and Information Center/LIC of NKUA). In the context of the project, the LCC in cooperation with the LIC continued and expanded the original strategic choice, now implementing the concentration of not only the cultural collections of NKUA, but also the broader intellectual and research activity of the Foundation, into a unified Digital Library and Institutional Repository platform.

Under the IR's new strategic policy, the LCC, in collaboration with the LIC, continues to substantially enrich and technically support Pergamos, providing guidance and digital services such as software maintenance, development of appropriate metadata, storage and retention of digital material, while simultaneously promoting and presenting them online, in line with contemporary techniques and practices. Therefore, "Pergamos" is considered to be a "Reliable Digital Repository", characterized by consistency and uniformity, which ensures the efficient management of digital collections and their sustainability over time.