Digitizing historical materials from public libraries and making them accessible online for education, research and cultural preservation.
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (Japan); Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA); Abrehot Library (Ethiopia).
Public libraries and museums preserve valuable historical materials that are essential for passing on culture to future generations. However, many institutions face challenges in digitizing these materials, assigning proper licensing and making them publicly accessible online. Without digital solutions, these resources remain underutilized, limiting educational opportunities, research potential and the broader societal value of cultural heritage. Smaller libraries often lack the technical capacity or funding to implement such systems, creating a gap in access to historical knowledge.
Local Media Labs provides a digital archive content management system that digitizes valuable library materials and makes them available online. The platform uses the IIIF (International Image Interoperability Framework) for global standard viewing and ensures interoperability with other institutions. By adopting clear licensing standards such as Public Domain and Creative Commons, it simplifies rules for secondary use. The system is cost-effective, accessible to both large and small libraries, and supported by consulting throughout implementation: from digitization to material utilization. By offering an intuitive management interface and user-friendly viewing experience, the solution helps bridge the digital divide and maximizes access to historical resources.
The system makes historical and educational materials accessible to anyone with an internet connection, including researchers, students, and the public in regions without easy access to physical libraries. By reducing reliance on physical presence and manual permissions, the platform allows smaller and remote libraries to share their collections widely, contributing to global knowledge exchange and cultural preservation.
The Saga Prefectural Library in Japan was the first project to use this system. The library made approximately 160,000 items publicly available, including 40,000 released under public domain licenses for secondary use. This has increased global access and usage by researchers, media, and other libraries or museums. The system reduced staff workload by 90 percent by eliminating manual permission handling for digital content. Additionally, with support from Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and JICA, the system is being piloted in Ethiopia through an MoU with the Abrehot Library in Addis Ababa.
Local Media Labs will implement the system in Ethiopia’s Abrehot Library and is exploring collaborations with the National Archives of Ethiopia and the Ethnological Museum at Addis Ababa University. Partnerships with local telecommunications providers and institutions are being considered to develop sustainable business models. The company also plans to expand to additional African countries, scaling the platform’s reach and enabling broader access to digital cultural and historical resources.
