Draft resolution on preservation of digital heritage UNESCO General Conference

[Anne Muller <ECPA _at__ bureau.knaw.nl>]

With apologies for crosspostings.
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The Committee on Digital Preservation of the Conference of Directors of 
National Libraries (CDNL) took the initiative to prepare a draft resolution 
on the preservation of the digital heritage for the 31st session of the 
General Conference of UNESCO, which will begin on 15 October 2001. The 
Dutch Government has now agreed to carry the draft resolution (DR.) and has 
formulated a final version of the text, as an Amendment to the Draft 
Programme and Budget for 2002-2003 (31 C/5) (of UNESCO), see 
http://www.knaw.nl/ecpa/news.html

The European Commission on Preservation and Access (ECPA) wishes to 
encourage institutions to gather support for the draft resolution. All 
those working in the heritage field are aware of the uncertain life-span of 
digital materials and the extreme complexities involved in keeping 
born-digital materials accessible over decades or even centuries. This 
draft resolution is meant to state, loud and clear, what is really at stake 
and to encourage governments to take action now.

Therefore, if you can agree with the purpose and content of the draft 
resolution, we would ask you to inform your UNESCO representatives  for 
instance at your national UNESCO Committee and/or Ministry of Culture  of 
this initiative, to convey to them the importance of the issue, and to urge 
them to support the draft resolution at the UNESCO General Conference next 
October.

[The CDNL Committee's aim is to promote international concerted actions for 
permanent access to digital heritage. Chair is Wim van Drimmelen, director 
of the National Library of the Netherlands; the other members are Jan 
Fullerton (Director-General of the National Library of Australia) and 
Winston Tabb (Associate Librarian of the Library of Congress).]
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European Commission on Preservation and Access (ECPA)
P.O. Box 19121, NL-1000 GC  Amsterdam,
visiting address: Trippenhuis, Kloveniersburgwal 29, NL-1011 JV  Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
tel. ++31 - 20 - 551 08 39   fax  ++31 - 20 - 620 49 41
URL: http://www.knaw.nl/ecpa/