Lithuanian Egodocumental Heritage (Acronym: LEGODOK)
Project cost (Litas): 599 900 LTL (for the years 2010-2013).
Project executive team:
- prof. dr. (HP) Arvydas Pacevičius, Professor of the Institute of Library and Information Science at the Faculty of Communication, Vilnius University, Project Head,
- prof., Habil. Dr. Waldemar Chorążyczewski, Deputy Director of the Institute of History and Archival Science at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń,
- prof. dr. Šarūnas Liekis, Professor of the Department of Political Science at Mykolas Romeris University,
- assoc. Prof., Dr. Julija Zinkevičienė, Associate Professor of the Institute of Book Science and Documentation at the Faculty of Communication, Vilnius University.
Financing source: The Research Council of Lithuania.
Project aim: The Project’s strategic aim is to provide the European and global access to the egodocumental (ED) heritage in the virtual space, following the inventorying of the Lithuanian egodocumental heritage, i.e. writing in the 1st person (memoirs, diaries, letters, autobiographical accounts), and after the completion of the research on systematics and typology based on historical genetics.
Project brief description: The ED heritage makes only a part of documental heritage, among which the area of subject-matter autobiographical writing has emerged lately. In Lithuania, there is a lack of consistent research studies that consider the ED heritage as an integrated corpus. The methodological basis for scientific research into the subject will be the ED concept coined by J. Presser, along with the insights of the researchers exploring the Western European autobiographical writing (W. Schulze, S. Roszak and others) as well as the new research trends (R. Mordenti in Italy, F. J. Ruggiu and S. Mouysset in France, K. von Greyerz in Switzerland, C. Ulbricht in Germany).
The research will make use of the methods for systemic and content analysis of documents, also the methods of bibliography, comparative history and archive science, paleography, statistical analysis, and others. These techniques will help disclose and describe the ED heritage as an integrated corpus and a unique phenomenon in the context of culture and social life of an analysed epoch. Also, ED origin (provenance), issues on cultural patterns in the clerical activity, writing practice, regional paleographical peculiarities, ED form and materials (paper, ink), ED provenances and marginalia will make a significant part of the research body.
Applied research will include retrieval of ED bibliographical information; drafting and publication of ED listings and subject bibliographies; specification of the elements in the archival entries; specification of priorities, criteria, and methodology for digital documentation; designing of the ED heritage website LEGODOK with its content management system; designing the working model of the ED database; and ensuring the interface with the infrastructure for history and heritage of humanities and social sciences. The Project is intended not only for formal recognition and description of egodocuments, but also for the analysis of the ‘I’ (Ego) development in them, thus enabling international (regional) comparison and justification of typology and hierarchy within the European historical-genetic perspective.