The Digitization of the Onassis Library

The Onassis Foundation has completed the major project “From Digitization to Digital Culture: Actions for the Promotion and Utilization of Digital Assets by the Onassis Library and the Cavafy Archive,” inviting researchers, scholars, and the general public to engage with a new digital experience, further expanding their horizons of knowledge and research through a contemporary and vibrant cultural hub.

The project aimed to the digitization and documentation of the significant cultural assets contained within the collections of the Onassis Library, employing specialized applications and providing open access to the Aristotle Onassis’ Personal Library, the Hellenic Library, the Travel Accounts Book Collection, the Historical and Literary Archive, and the Cavafy Archive.

The launch of the new Onassis Library web portal, library.onassis.org, offers more than 200,000 photos from the book and archival collections spanning the 15th century to today, along with a rich selection of artworks from the Onassis Collection. The platform transforms the Onassis Library into a modern repository, a user-friendly, accessible tool for ‘traveling’ through stories, sources, images, and books.

The openness of the project and the timeless value of the cultural material housed in the Onassis Library are reflected in the following digital applications:

• The Virtual Reality Tour app (VR) provides an immersive, remote experience of the Onassis Library. Through an interactive video featuring 360° panoramic views of the spaces, users can take a virtual tour and discover information on selected exhibits, including rare books, objects, and artworks from the Onassis Foundation’s rare collections.
• The Augmented Reality Digital Guide app (AR) has been designed to enhance the visitor experience within the physical space of the Onassis Library, delivering multimedia content through Augmented Reality technology.
• The Digital Exhibitions app brings audiences closer to the Onassis Foundation’s art collection, highlighting its works.
• The C. P. Cavafy’s Timeline educational app aimed to shed light on the life, work, and era of the great Alexandrian poet, highlighting archival materials from the digital collection of the Cavafy Archive.
• The interactive map “C. P. Cavafy’s Alexandria—The Years in Alexandria” traces the poet’s relationship with his native city through 29 landmarks, enabling the public to navigate through the application as they would a digital map.
• The Aristotle Onassis Timeline highlights the most significant events in his life through 31 pivotal moments.

In addition, the Onassis Foundation has implemented the latest version of MuseumPlus RIA, a comprehensive collections management platform tailored to the diverse needs of cultural institutions.