A new digital repository is now freely available on the Internet, with more than 1.500 items, which testify to the history of the bourgeoisie of Lesvos of the 19th and 20th century. This is the repository of the Aegean Historical Archive "Ergani" (www.ergani-repository.gr), implemented by the National Documentation Center (ESF) in collaboration with the Archives, aiming at highlighting its richly documented material, capturing the business and cultural growth of the northeastern Aegean in previous centuries.
The archival material of "Ergani" highlights the political developments, the standard development of olive cultivation, entrepreneurship and the daily life of the bourgeoisie of Lesvos two centuries ago. Through newspapers, letters, financial documents, photographs, brochures, engineering drawings, postcards, literary texts, films of the period 1924-1929, the daily life during this historical period is captured.
Historians, researchers, students, web visitors with historical, social and folklore interests, visitors and residents of the North-East Aegean have the possibility to navigate the digital repository of "Ergani" gaining access to the documented content of the Archive. By searching for records using a variety of criteria, such as family name, date, content type, or place name, Repository users can learn about archival material, register as users for personalized research services, and print materials of interest.
The Archive takes its name from machine collection"Ergani" olive tree, an invention of Mytilene businessman, artist and inventor, Mitsa Kourtzis. The "Ergani" was a particularly interesting innovation in 1924, recognized internationally in conferences and magazines of the time. The collection of the Kourtzis family, which is included in the archive, is of particular value, as it contains documents dating from the beginning of the 19th century. and they reach up to 1985, testifying to the gradual process of cutting off Lesvos from its natural geographical surroundings, the coasts of Asia Minor and the wider area of the Black Sea.
The repository is a standard information system for the management and display of the archival collections of "Ergani". Its purpose is the organized distribution of the digital content of the Archive, in order to facilitate the study of the complex historical-social phenomena that characterized the wider area of the NE. Aegean during the 19th and 20th century.
For the documentation of the Archive, common metadata formats were adopted applying international standards, incorporating controlled vocabularies, established terms of subjects, types of content, persons, collective bodies and families and ensuring direct and friendly access to information in terms of interoperability.
The Historical Archive of the Aegean "Ergani" is an urban non-profit corporation founded in 2002 and located in Mytilini. "Ergani" aims to protection and exploitation of the Greek cultural heritage represented by the Archive.
The development of the Aegean Historical Archive Repository "Ergani" was completed in the framework of the Operation "National Information System Research and Technology / Social Networks - User Generated Content" (Operational Program "Digital Convergence", NSRF, with the co-financing of the EU - European Regional Development Fund) (www.epset.gr), which is the main development project of the ESF.
The ESF (www.ekt.gr) develops digital repository services for organizations of high quality educational, research, scientific and cultural content. Soon, these services will evolve further, utilizing the Software as a Service model. The aim is to create a strong knowledge network for the exploitation and re-use of the reputable Greek digital content.
Addresses on the Internet
Repository of the Aegean Historical Archive "Ergani"
http://www.ergani-repository.gr
National Information System for Research and Technology
http://www.epset.gr
