Our history now on a computer

The sixth issue of the Annales magazine has been published. The Historical Society for Southern Primorska from Koper has published the sixth issue of the journal Annales Anali for Istrian and Mediterranean Studies. At the presentation in the Slovenska Matica hall, the technicians of the i-Rose company from Laško also showed us a computer simulation of a multimedia CD-ROM with the contents of six issues of the Annales magazine and three issues of the Acta Histriae collection.

Satvator Žitko, editor-in-chief of Analov, said that the magazine is a reflection of the space in which it is created. The space is plural, bordering Italy and Croatia, and the orientation of the publication corresponds to this (the editorial board includes experts of all nationalities). The journal issues published in previous years were subtitled Annals of the Koper Littoral and Nearby Provinces (Annali del Litorale capodistriano e delle regsoni vicine), but now they have been renamed the Annals of Istrian and Mediterranean Studies (Annali di Studi istriani e mediterranei).

The latest issue is divided into several sections: Architecture and Renovation in Koper, Istro-Romanian Linguistic and Cultural Islands, Transport and Economy, Discussions and Materials, Schoolwork, Grades and Reports, and In memoriam.

The Annales-Acta Histriae CD-ROM is the first such product in Slovenia. With a rich amount of data and a large amount of images and sound, it is the first multimedia application in the field of humanitarian and natural sciences. Its advantage over the classic book form is mainly in the modernity of data searching. We can find any word anywhere in the text. There are seven million letters in memory, thirty minutes of videos and seven hundred pictures. You will be able to buy the CD-ROM next month. It will cost about fifteen thousand tolars. It also contains summaries of texts in English and German, while Italian literary works are briefly presented in Slovene and vice versa.

The first five years of publishing the Annales magazine appear to have been very successful. The approach to the work of Kopers historians may also encourage others who work in historical or similar sciences to acquaint us with our past in the most modern ways possible.