Conference 2004
Long-term availability of digital publications in Swiss patrimonial libraries - cooperation
Conference, November 10th 2004, Swiss National Library, Bern
The Swiss National Library (NL) organised another conference on November 10th 2004 around e-Helvetica after the 2003 conference that had assembled the directors of the various cantonal libraries.
In November 2003, the cantonal libraries and the NL had agreed that cooperation was the right way to rise to the important challenges raised by electronic publication medias. The 2004 conference has firmed up the principle of collaboration among the partners.
The discussions were held in reaction to two preliminary studies concerning on one hand the long-term conservation of diskettes held by cantonal libraries and on the other hand, the proposition to set up a common collection of web sites in Switzerland.
The conference was also the opportunity for the NL to bring its partners up to date on the developments of e-Helvetica and to share information on the experiences of cooperation projects in Germany between Die Deutsche Bibliothek (German National Library) and the Länder and regional libraries.
Preliminary studies
After the 2003 conference with representatives from cantonal libraries, the NL had received the mandate to undertake two preliminary studies: the first was to develop a proposal for the long-term conservation of diskettes held by cantonal libraries and the second was to submit a proposal for the establishment of a common collection of web sites in Switzerland.
The two documents are thorough analyses of both questions and contain detailed technical information. The summaries of these documents highlight the main aspects of the proposals and lay down the foundation for the discussion and decision-making.