Wroclaw University Library turns to IBM Big Data

IBM and the Wroclaw University Library in Poland have announced a national scientific project to preserve and digitize nearly 800,000 pages of distinctive European manuscripts, books, and maps dating back to the Middle Ages and rarely accessible to the public until now.

The project, co-founded by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund, creates the largest digital archive of medieval manuscripts and ancient geographical atlases in Poland. It uses a solution consisting of IBM System x servers and Storage disk and SAN solutions to address the Big Data challenge of managing and providing fast search and retrieval services for up to 300 terabytes of information.

"The Wroclaw University Library's mission is to protect, preserve and ensure broader access to Polish cultural heritage," said Adam Zurek, Head of the Department of Scientific Documentation of Cultural Heritage, Wroclaw University Library. "We selected IBM to help us identify, choose and implement a solution in line with our goals of digitizing the library's documents and making them available to the broader public online. Thanks to the IBM Smarter Computing solution, our library has enhanced its potential as an educational resource for students and researchers from Europe and all over the world."

The Wroclaw University Library, founded in 1811, houses unique documents such as medieval manuscripts and old prints. One of its most valuable treasures is the "Statuta synodalia episcoporum Wratislaviensium,” containing the texts of everyday prayers printed for the first time in Polish by Kasper Elyan in 1475.

Other precious cultural texts include "Legenda major de Beata Hedwigi," published by Konrad Baumgarten in 1504, and early publications of Martin Luther, Miguel de Cervantes, and William Shakespeare. The archive also includes thousands of old printed maps, like the handwritten "Portolan Atlas" by famed cartographer Battista Agnese.

Until now, these documents were accessible to only a handful number of students and scientists. Through this digitization project, the Wroclaw University Library can now provide access to this material to anyone via Internet.

IBM designed an IT platform based on IBM System x 3550 M3 servers, IBM Storwize V7000 Unified Disk Systems and IBM System Storage SAN24B-4 Express storage systems. The solution helps collect, preserve, store, manage and index all types of digital content, including text, images, audio, and video. The IBM System Storage Easy Tier function automatically and non-disruptively manages frequently accessed data, eliminating manual intervention when requesting large volumes of information. This means that readers will be able to quickly open, view, retrieve and explore library documents online.

"Preserving our ancient cultural documents is a major project which opens our Polish cultural heritage to the world," says Grzegorz Dobranowski, Business Partner Organization Director, IBM Poland. "Thanks to IBM's Smarter Computing approach to IT, it will be now easier for the library to collect, manage and catalog content, ensuring Europe and the world benefit from Poland's great cultural heritage."

During the implementation, 1,100 medieval manuscripts were digitized together with old prints, maps and music. Over 140 documents underwent conservation and a 360-page album is about to be published.

The system was implemented at the Wroclaw University Library by ProSystem SA, an IBM Business Partner.