The Bulgarian retrospective bibliography of the Revival period (1801-1878) is a subject researched by generations of foreign and Bulgarian scientists. Despite the serious interest in describing Bulgarian Revival print books, their bibliography is reflected in several individual works that do not follow a common methodology and differ in their territorial and linguistic scope. As a consequence, the continuity between them is inconsistent and the number of bibliographic units involved is different (Irechek, 1872; Balan, 1909; Pogorelov, 1923; Stoyanov, 1957; Teodosiev, 2007). The historical circumstances surrounding the collection and publication of the bibliographies as well as the technological developments over the last three decades require their synchronization and systematization in line with the requirements of the modern information environment.

The biggest disadvantage of the Bulgarian bibliographic references of the Revival period as well as other periods is that they are only in print form or converted into static formats (mostly pdf) and do not meet the needs of the modern information society. When working with them, information is processed and analyzed slowly, individual research efforts are required, and queries using quantitative methods often do not reflect the features of the targeted object.

In the course of compiling print repertoire, there are a number of gaps, inaccuracies and technical errors that can be found in the hard copy, but can hardly be supplemented and removed in the common bibliographic corpus. Accumulation of bibliographic errors leads to inaccuracies in the scientific studies themselves, which are based on bibliographic and bibliometric information. For this reason, some authors, titles and thematic fields remain invisible or misinterpreted.

The current project aims to address the shortcomings of print bibliographic references – unification of records, comparative analysis between existing versions and bibliographic units described therein, possibility to supplement and correct errors 24/7, saving time for bibliometric and quantitative analyses through creating an Information Retrieval System (IRS). The digitized bibliographic array will provide open access to personalized information according to the needs of the particular study or research through a set of filters.

The new IRS applies an innovative methodology of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) visualizing the bibliographic information and allowing its use through topographic indicators. The building of a Bibliographic Database (BD) based on the IRS and GIS principles has a fundamental character for the development of the Bulgarian Science.

The project has been developed by the Library Sciences Department at the Faculty of Library Studies and Cultural Heritage of the University of Library Studies and Information Technologies (ULSIT). It has been funded by the Bulgarian Science Fund at the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria. The team under the management of Associate Professor Vasil Zagorov PhD (History of Books) includes specialists with a variety of competences: Associate Professor Krasimira Aleksandrova PhD (Bibliography), Senior Assistant Professor Plamena Zlatkova PhD (Library Studies), Senior Assistant Professor Marina Encheva PhD (Information Retrieval Systems), Senior Assistant Professor Poli Mukanova PhD (Philology and Book Studies) and Kalin Yordanov PhD (Information Technologies).

During the project implementation the following post-doctoral scientists, PhD students and Master’s  students have been involved in particular tasks: Eng. Iskra Tsvetanska PhD, Gergana Yancheva (PhD student), Gabriela Angelova (PhD student) and Mihail Vulov (Master’s student). The following representatives of the Library and Information Sector participate in the project as external consultants: Iylia Karadachka-Simeonova (National Library St.St. Cyril and Methodius), Silvia Filipova (National Library St.St. Cyril and Methodius), Silvia Naydenova (Central Library of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) and Iskren Stoyanov (IT specialiast).

The project team expressed their gratitude to the staff of the City Historical Museum – Samokov, under the guidance of Veselin Hadjiangelov. City Historical Museum “Acad. Yordan Ivanov” – Kyustendil (under the guidance of Valentin Debochichki); Regional Library “Emanuil Popdimitrov “- Kyustendil (under the guidance of Sofia Paycheva); Regional Library “Lyuben Karavelov”- Ruse (under the guidance of Teodora Evtimova).