The paper identifies necessary steps to create a national information system for management and preservation of cultural heritage documentation. The Republic of Serbia, where the digitization of cultural heritage is recognized as a segment of cultural development and officially accepted as one of the methods for preservation and presentation of heritage documentation, is taken as a case study. The paper describes the evolutionary path of the digitization process in Serbia and analyzes the importance of the adoption of a legal framework and establishment of national standards in the process of achieving the uniqueness in cultural heritage long-term sustainable documentation management and preservation across cultural institutions.