Services > Digitization Service and ETERA

Digitization Service and ETERA

The digitization center and the ETERA service enable the digitization, long-term preservation, and management of cultural and scientific materials, as well as making them accessible to users online. The service addresses issues related to the aging, deterioration, and limited accessibility of physical materials by creating high-quality digital copies and ensuring their preservation for future generations. Modern digitization and preservation technologies are used to process a variety of materials, including books, journals, manuscripts, photographs, maps, audio and video recordings, and research papers. The ETERA digital environment allows users to easily search for, browse, and access materials regardless of their location or the time. The service is used to preserve cultural and scientific heritage, support education and research, and showcase valuable materials to the general public.

Moodul: E-Varamu
Institution: The Academic Library of Tallinn University
Service category: API access, digitization, publishing, full-text search and collection creation, long-term preservation of library materials / paper, text recognition
Target group: developers, humanities researchers, Lecturers / teachers, Other research or cultural institutions, Researchers from other disciplines, Students, General public
Language: Estonian, English, Russian
Availability: Publicly available
Status: In use
How to use the service?
To use the service, users can visit the ETERA web environment, where they can search for, browse, view, and—subject to usage rights—download digital cultural and research materials. While a large portion of the materials is freely available to everyone, accessing restricted content may require logging in or requesting specific permission. Institutions, private individuals, and others can commission the Digitization Centre to digitize, digitally process, and preserve their collections by contacting the Centre to clarify service terms and the scope of work.
Contact for using the service or obtaining further information
Peeter Kondratjev, peeter@tlulib.ee
Service link
ETERA and Digitization Centre
Is the service free to use?
ETERA web environment is free, digitization is based on the price list .
Connected services of ERCDI
The digitization center and ETERA service are integrated with other ERCDI services related to the collection, description, preservation, discovery, and dissemination of cultural and scientific heritage. The service is primarily utilized following the selection and preparation of materials for digitization, and in parallel with metadata creation, cataloging, and copyright management. Digitized materials and their descriptive metadata are made searchable and accessible via ETERA and can be linked to library information systems, e-catalogs, search portals, digital archives, and other platforms that facilitate access to research data. Thus, the service supports a comprehensive workflow—spanning from the digitization and digital preservation of physical materials to their discovery, use, and public accessibility.