Preserving and democratizing knowledge.
The Hub employs cutting-edge robotics and AI to digitize the Church's historical collections, making its intellectual and spiritual tradition available to the world.
Located in Rome, it is a joint initiative of the Pontifical Gregorian University and Longbeard.
Precision, speed, and intelligence:
Our automated process
We leverage state-of-the-art, fully automated robot scanners to meticulously handle and digitize delicate materials. This cutting-edge infrastructure ensures unmatched quality and efficiency for your precious collections.
High-speed scanning
Our robotic scanners can process up to 2,500 pages per hour. For delicate works, careful manual scanning is also available.
Integrated AI processing
The Hub's scanners connect directly with Vulgate AI, our leading digitization platform. This integration ensures your scanned content is instantly prepared for advanced processing.
Seamless data transformation
We convert your library content into structured TEI XML data. This makes the data lighter, semantically rich, and understandable by both humans and AI models. Our process handles raw text, images, URLs, audio, and video.
End-to-end automation
Our unique workflow, from physical scanning to AI-driven data extraction and processing, minimizes human intervention. This ensures consistent quality and a seamless experience for your collections.
Your full-service digitization partner
The Alexandria Digitization Hub provides a comprehensive suite of services to manage your projects effectively from start to finish:
1. Initial consultation & planning
We collaborate to define your collection and digitization objectives.
2. Secure material transport
We manage the secure transport of your physical books and materials to our Rome-based hub, including detailed logging and item signing.
3. Vulgate AI account setup
Your organization's Vulgate AI account is configured for seamless integration.
4. Digitization & AI processing
This core service includes the ingestion and AI-powered processing of materials (extraction, TEI XML encoding, vectorization) to enable advanced search, analysis, and accessibility features. This covers both high-speed and manual scanning.
5. Safe material return
We ensure the secure handling and return delivery of all original physical materials to your institution.
Library Platform Powered by Artificial Intelligence
Vulgate is an AI-powered library platform designed to revolutionize academic research by leveraging technologies like neural search, document ingestion, text summarization, and machine translation. It enables users to interact with vast library collections through natural language queries, delivering instant answers with citations, and supports advanced research across diverse documents and languages.
Why digitization matters
Digitization through the Alexandria Digitization Hub offers profound benefits, enhancing preservation and democratizing access to your collections.
For the Catholic Church
Preserve cultural heritage and expand access to knowledge, ensuring Church teaching and intellectual traditions remain accessible for future generations.
For academia
Scholars worldwide gain unparalleled access to historical manuscripts, fostering new research and global collaboration through AI capabilities.
For humanity
Safeguards and disseminates our shared cultural heritage by making centuries of wisdom universally available, contributing to a more enlightened and informed global society.
Honoring the legacy of the Library of Alexandria
The ancient Library of Alexandria, founded in the 3rd century BCE, once represented the pinnacle of human effort to collect and preserve knowledge—until its loss left a lasting void.
The Alexandria Hub builds on this legacy in the digital era.
By digitizing the intellectual and spiritual patrimony of the Catholic Church, the Hub ensures that centuries of tradition are protected from destruction and made accessible for generations to come.
Partner with us
Join us in our mission to preserve and democratize knowledge. We offer a range of partnership opportunities for institutions, researchers, and individuals.
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