Library associations: IFLA International Conference on Newspaper Digitization and Preservation

11 to 13 April, 2012 the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, is featuring the IFLA International Newspaper Conference 2012: “Newspaper Digitization and Preservation: New Prospects. Stakeholders, Practices, Users and Business Models. The event is organized by the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the IFLA Newspaper Section and the IFLA PAC Core Activity.

The conference venue was not chosen by chance. Currently, the National Library of France is involved in an ambitious program to digitize newspapers. At the same time the library of Franc will hold an exhibition entitled "The Front Page» ("La Presse à la Une"), dedicated to the history of the newspapers in France.

The Conference aims to assess major ongoing mass digitization projects in Europe and throughout the world, undertaken by libraries, archives, newspaper publishers, and content aggregators.

Main topics of the conference are:

- digitization projects;

- general digitization policies;

- web harvesting;

- legal deposit;

- editorial strategies;

- issues linked to long-term digital and physical preservation;

- new devices for access and distribution of digital content;

- new and old business models.

Conference sponsors' latest products and technologies will be on display in the Grand Auditorium foyer. In "Le LABO" area of the BnF, conference attendees will be able to see and use the most up-to-date technologies and e-reading devices for news and digital newspapers online.

Librarians, archivists, news publishers, journalists, experts in media economics, digital and physical preservation experts, digital service providers, news and content aggregators, and producers of new electronic devices are invited and encouraged to attend.

Earlier IFLA conference on digitization and preservation of newspapers was held in New Delhi, India (2010) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia, 2011).