The purpose of the study is to start a thorough discussion of the issue of creating a regulatory and legal framework in Ukraine, which will determine the principles of a general nature regarding the digitization of fonds of cultural institutions, taking into account international standards and many years of global experience of digitizing fonds by archives, libraries and museums, in particular Ukrainian ones. The methodology of the article is based on the application of general scientific methods, in particular, systematic, conceptual analysis, comparative and retrospective, as well as empirical. The scientific novelty lies in the raised issues of creating a scientifically based legal framework in Ukraine regarding the digitization of the fonds of cultural institutions as an urgent need for the preservation of the fonds and the technological basis for the integration of individual fonds of use into a single electronic information resource. Conclusions. The omission regarding the lack of uniform general requirements for digital copies of fonds of cultural institutions, the identification of these copies and their purpose, which are regulated by the relevant normative legal acts of Ukraine, was formed as a result of the lack of projects brought to practical implementation on the creation of general integration electronic information resources in accordance with international standards and best practices, as well as the availability of relatively easy-to-use document digitization technologies. This led to the creation of many electronic information resources of local importance in Ukraine. In the absence of the specified legal framework, such information resources are, for the most part, technologically incompatible, which leads to the need to re-digitize fonds or convert large digital data arrays into other formats. Obviously, the processes of repeated digitization contribute to the deterioration of the preservation of fonds. Positive steps have been taken to create a unified regulatory and legal framework in the archival field - as a result of research work, a number of methodological recommendations have been developed and approved by regulatory documents. These documents can become the basis for the creation of a corresponding regulatory legal act of a general nature, which would apply to all legal entities of Ukraine, regardless of their form of ownership, which perform the task of digitizing the national historical and cultural heritage.