Digitization of Melographic Notations


Koraljka Kuzman Šlogar, Irena Miholić




Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Research (IEF) has the largest and unique Archive of intangible cultural heritage in Croatia. From the establishment of the IEF in 1948, its scientists began to create a collection that now includes extensive cursive, video and audio material on the traditional culture of the Croats and various minorities collected and recorded in all regions of Croatia, as well as the expatriated Croats. The collection of unique and rare melographic notations of traditional music is a part of this collection. Their tremendous value and a high degree of vulnerability are the reasons why this part of Institute’s Archive is, along with audio recordings, on the top of the list of priorities for digitization. In this paper, a collection of original materials, its uniqueness and importance, along with the method of their digitization and processing is presented. Emphasis is on the challenges of identification of digital images and their connection with the original records, as well as on the storage, presentation and access to digital content.