FYI: British Library Plans Digital Future (aus BBC Online, 14.6.2001)

["Marcel Brannemann" <mbrannemann _at__ awi-bremerhaven.de>]

Liebe InetBibler,

folgenden Artikel fand ich heute in BBC Online:

British Library Plans Digital Future

By the BBC's Catherine Goldwater 
The British Library has unveiled its plans for the future. In a
consultative document it has       detailed a range of proposals, which,
if accepted, would see a far greater role for the web and use of digital
materials. 

Chief Executive Lynne Brindley said this did not mean the end of books.
Last year, for example,              a record number of books - over
100,000 -  were deposited in the British Library. 

But the library wants to extend this role into the digital world. It
recognises the importance of web              sites as a great source of
historical and cultural material, as well as 'books' that
are              only published on the net. 

The library has been keeping and cataloguing every volume published in
the UK, for over 300 years.
To enable it to make sure such material is not lost forever, the British
Library wants to set up              collaborative partnerships with
other libraries and organisations both in the UK and abroad
to              archive and catalogue them. 
              
Rich heritage 

It also wants to make the most of what it already has and could reach
far wider audiences by digitising its vast collection. Lynne Brindley
said she hardly knew where to start because the heritage collections
were so rich, containing items like maps, early photographs, music and
oral history material. 
"These are things in the past that only researchers have been able to
have access to," she told BBC News Online. "What we see as very exciting
is opening this up over the web so that anybody can get at it, and
school children can use it for their assignments." 
The issue of greater access is the key to the future of the library and
the use of the net has              transformed what might be possible.
But to implement this strategy, the British Library will             
have to supplement its funds. 
At present it receives £85m a year from the government but it also
generates its own income too, about £35m a year. Realistically, one of
these figures will have to be  significantly boosted to deliver this
re-shaping of UK library services. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1388000/1388913.stm

-- 
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- Bibliotheksleitung -
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