Building a virtual library

PRESS RELEASE : for immediate release
March 22, 2000
IFLA Headquarters

There have been several past and current initiatives to create a virtual library. But the roads leading to Utopia often appear barren. Most national and university libraries have started to implement digitisation programmes.
Every day they are publishing on the web more and more of the most significant pages of their cultural heritage. However, the more documents that are published, the more difficult it becomes to find relevant information.

Aware of these difficulties, UNESCO, within the framework of its "Memory of the World Programme", has contracted IFLA (the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) to identify the major works of national, regional and global interest which have been digitised from originals first published on traditional carriers (manuscripts, printed works , photographs, etc*)

After two years of survey and work based on the competency of two of its Core Programmes respectively hosted by the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the British Library, IFLA has finally set up a unique directory of collections which offers searches based on key words, countries and dates. This directory, available on the UNESCO web site:
http://www.unesco.org/webworld/mow/digicol/

enables the user to view existing collections and presents links to the holding institution where more detailed information, or the document itself, is provided.

UNESCO and IFLA will be updating this directory on a regular basis. It will be the beginning of a true virtual library resulting from the fruitful collaboration of the community of national and university libraries and hopefully of archives, and museums.

Aziz Abid, Division du Programme general d'information, UNESCO

* PAC (Preservation and Conservation)
UAP ( Universal Availability of Publications)