Search

The e-paper collection of the German National Library (Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, DNB) contains about 1.200 titles. These digital versions show the original layout of the printed newspapers and are archived as deposit copies. At the same time, the regional libraries are also entitled to receiving copies from the newspaper publishers, based on the laws of their federal states. After several years of preliminary works, a co-operation between the German National Library and, at the moment, eleven regional libraries from seven federal states has started: since January 2018, the collection of the German National Library is accessible from the premises of the participating regional libraries - of course only the e-papers of the respective federal states or areas are available. Thus, handing in and archiving newspapers twice will be avoided, also at federal state level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since May 2013, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German research community) supports pilot projects dealing with the digitalization of historic newspapers at four libraries in Germany, one of them the Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Bremen (State and university library Bremen). At the same time, the Zeitschriftendatenbank (ZDB, journal data bank) is extended and the DFG viewers for newspapers are adapted. The participating libraries not only enlarge the number of digitalized newspapers significantly, but work out standards of newspaper digitalization which will also be relevant for future digitalization projects. The SuUB Bremen's pilot project aims at digitalizing all German-language newspapers of the 17th century which are more completely availiable here than anywhere else. The newspapers are presented on the digital collections portal of the SuUB Bremen (http://brema.suub.uni-bremen.de/) based on the software Visual Library. This paper represents newspaper digitalization in the context of the DFG's current support policy. Apart from emphasizing the standard and structure forming aims of the pilot projects, the specific orientation and the peculiarities of the Bremen project are the subject of the following report. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents news briefs pertaining to libraries. An online petition at http://www.klassik-stiftung.de/einrichtungen/herzogin-annaamalia-bibliothek/weimarer-appell/ against the conservation and protection of library materials against destruction via fires and flooding is discussed, the publication of an English translation of a Dutch paper on the future of libraries available online at http://www.siob.nl/media/documents/Library_of_ the_Future_12082014_DEF.pdf is announced, and the launch of the "Landesdigitalisierungsprogramm Wissenschaft und Kultur" library material digitization program in Saxony, Germany is also announced.