NAL Continues to Train Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Develop Handwritten Text Recognition Models

On October 30, 2025, as part of Digital Heritage Days at Valmiera Integrated Library, Mairita Lukianska, digitization expert at the National Archives of Latvia, presented research on the use of AI in handwritten text recognition within the collection of the Minutes of the Riga City Council (1603–1890).

“Working with German Kurrent script, we succeeded in creating a customized language model and achieved high accuracy with a relatively small amount of training data,” stated Mairita Lukianska in her presentation, “and the results achieved demonstrate AI’s potential in the digitization of historical heritage,” the expert continued.

Digital Heritage Days explored digitization practices, the role of metadata in content discovery, and the application of AI in cultural data creation. The program included both expert presentations on digital library opportunities, reference data, and copyright issues, as well as practical experience stories from representatives of regional libraries and museums. The day concluded with workshops on copyright application and practical aspects of digitization.

“NAL continues to develop handwritten text recognition models by implementing a cross-border cooperation project together with the national archives of Estonia and Finland, as well as the South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences. The project’s goal is to improve archival services and information accessibility by developing more effective methods for working with handwritten text recognition models and AI-supported tools,” M. Lukianska noted at the conclusion of her presentation.

Digital Heritage Days 2025 took place at Valmiera Integrated Library and were dedicated to cultural heritage digitization, copyright issues, and the use of artificial intelligence.

Mairita Lukianska, digitization expert at the National Archives of Latvia.

Read more about the project here: https://centralbaltic.eu/project/archxai/