‘Bottom-Up Digitalisation’ of Cultural Resources – The Example of the Silesian Digital Library and Social Digitalisation Workshops. Organisational, Educational and Integration Aspects

Nowadays, in the era of electronic communication, digitalisation and making resources available online are one of the key challenges for cultural institutions. Meeting the changing expectations and needs of readers is another important task for libraries. The aim of the article is to present and critically analyse one of the successful strategies pursued by traditional cultural institutions in order to adapt to the changing reality: the operation of the Silesian Digital Library and social digitalisation workshops on gathering and sharing resources – books, magazines, maps, documents, etc. – online. The article is a case study. The discussion covers the organisational aspects of the library as a self-organising and educational cluster organisation (from its inception in 2007 until 2019), as well as integration aspects of bottom-up digitalisation activity, which creates new opportunities in the form of a volunteer initiative and activation of the elderly and people with disabilities. The article shows that the model of operation of the Silesian Digital Library and social digitalisation workshops is in line with contemporary trends of participatory culture, open culture, and the paradigm of social inclusion and empowerment. A digital medium, which the library is, together with the infrastructure created, enables networking and the nurturing of partnerships between institutions, building resources, sharing the cultural heritage of the region and strengthening activity and promoting participation in social life through the implementation of new strategies of anagement.