OSCE Mission supports digitization of parliament’s verbatim records

With the support of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, around 50,000 verbatim records of sessions of Parliament of Montenegro from 1991 to 2008 were digitized and are searchable by date, year, convocation, session, political party and speaker. This process was finalized on 8 February with a training course for parliamentary staff on practical use of the software, developed with the Mission’s support in 2022.

Digitization of records provide more systematic and easier access to archival material for the public, including professionals, historians, students and researchers. Being an important historical testimony of parliamentary life in Montenegro, verbatim records of parliamentary sessions represent a rich political, social and historical source of information for both present and future generations.

Jelisaveta Blagojević-Miljanić, Head of Parliament’s Library and Documentary Centre and Archive, said that this software is a useful tool for Library’s employees, as it enables quick and easy searching of scanned notes, contributing to the efficiency, quality and precision process of responding to MPs’ and citizens’ requests. “Instead of flipping through often physically heavy and voluminous notebooks, employees at the Centre now can use a modern application that enables simple use through clearly defined filters. In addition, we achieve protection and conservation of the original text, as the need for use of printed versions is now reduced,” said Blagojević-Miljanić.

Being in an initial phase of the process, the archive material is currently available only through request sent to Parliament. In 2023, the Mission will support digitization of verbatim records from 1946 to 1988 parliamentary sessions, assisting Parliament in its task to preserve, protect and make this testimony available to the public.

In previous two years, the Mission supported the digitalization of Parliament’s library services and procedures, providing for over 90 per cent of Library holdings to be uploaded into the Co-operative Online Bibliographic System and Services (COBISS). As part of its support to the Library of the Parliament, the Mission also assisted in drafting the Library’s rulebook, which details the day-to-day work of the library and outlines the rights and obligations of users.