Flexibility, cost optimization, and customization options were the main benefits, thanks to the integration of scalable cloud infrastructure and open-source technologies.
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The client and the context
From the tireless and meticulous work of the scribes to Gutenberg’s movable-type printing, from the typewriter to digitization. This is the case with the library of the Diocese of Pozzuoli , which since 1745 has preserved texts on Sacred Scripture, canon law, dogmatic theology, and church history.
Will the smell of ink on paper be nothing more than a distant memory? No, but the Diocese of Pozzuoli’s library is keeping up with the times and striving to accommodate those who prefer to browse a book on the latest devices, such as Kindles, tablets, or smartphones. Does this mean that users will be able to browse a text from the 1700s on their cell phones—perhaps on the subway, perhaps on their way to work? Yes, this is possible thanks to Amazon Web Services’ cloud and VMEngine.
Obviously, these are particularly fragile documents that are difficult to flip through. Digitization eliminates this problem. A document can be viewed as often as the user deems necessary and, thanks to our cloud infrastructure, by an unlimited number of users simultaneously.
The Library of the Diocese of Pozzuoli has joinedthe National Collective Archive of Periodicals (ACNP), the Italian Periodicals Catalog managedby the Departmental and Document Systems Division of the University of Bologna and by the “G. Marconi” Central Library of the National Research Council in Rome.
The ACNP collects bibliographic descriptions of periodicals held by libraries throughout Italy, covering all major disciplinary fields and serving as a reference tool for consulting the national periodical collection.
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The challenge
In the project developed for the Diocese of Pozzuoli, the VMEngine team had to overcome both infrastructure and application-related challenges.
The issue did not concern the digitization of documents—which had already been entrusted to a specialized company—but rather the need for a platform capable of hosting, managing, and scaling the enormous volume of digitized files, while keeping costs under control.
A traditional infrastructure would have required hardware investments exceeding 8,000 euros, not to mention software licenses—which are often expensive and closed-source—that would have limited the ability to adapt to specific needs.
From a technical standpoint, the real challenge was handling non-standard file formats.
While Dublin Core (.xml) is the international standard for describing and archiving digital materials, the data held by the Diocese was saved in .xml.MAG (Administrative and Management Metadata), a proprietary standard used only in Italy, which is not interoperable with the main document management systems.
The VMEngine team responded to this challenge by designinga cloud infrastructure on Amazon Web Services capable of ensuring scalability, cost-effectiveness, and adaptability to non-standard formats, thereby overcoming the technical and operational limitations of traditional solutions.
This approach made it possible to avoid the costs of managing an on-premises infrastructure and to provide the Diocese of Pozzuoli with a flexible, efficient platform ready to support the growth of its digital document collection.
The VMEngine Solution
The solution adopted by the VMEngine team made it possible to tackle the challenge on two distinct fronts.
From an infrastructure standpoint, rather than relying on dedicated physical servers to store large volumes of data, the company opted for a highly scalable cloud platform capable of handling traffic spikes during peak activity and reducing costs during periods of lower usage.
On the software front, the need to customize the platform made the use of closed-source solutions impractical.
For this reason, the VMEngine team opted for an open-source solution, which has no licensing costs and is fully adaptable to the project’s specific needs.
Not only that, but financial support was also provided for the development of modules dedicated to importing metadata in the Italian format, thereby contributing to the evolution of the open-source platform in use.
Benefits
“The savings have been significant; by switching to open-source solutions, we’ve reduced costs while ensuring access to ancient texts—from Rome to Vancouver—directly from a PC or smartphone. We want to continue digitizing all our volumes and manuscripts to make knowledge available to anyone, anywhere.”
Andreana Moio
President, Nemea Association
