Virtually New - Creating the Digital Collection (1998)

The Library and Information Commission has published its review of digitisation and digitisation projects in local authority libraries and archives as Virtually New - Creating the Digital Collection. On 9th February, 1998 the findings of the Review were presented to an invited audience drawn from the Commission's Research Committee and the International Committee, and, from the Department for Culture Media and Sport and the British Library Research and Innovation Centre.

This web site provides the full text of the report in the form of a downloadable Microsoft Word file. The executive summary and key recommendations of the report have also been made available as web pages.

The printed report can also be purchased from the Library and Information Commission.

Virtually New addresses a key issue in the Commission’s 20/20 Vision statement and New Library: the People's Network to support the enabling of a digital library collection in which the UK’s heritage of intellectual property will be available at the local, regional, national and global level. In addition, the national educational policy contexts of the National Grid for Learning informed the research.

Research for Virtually New- Creating the Digital Collection was carried out by Information North, the Development Agency for Library and Information Services in the Northern Region of England. The Information North Research Team was led by Project Director, Bill Macnaught (Director of Libraries and Arts, Gateshead), Project Manager Michael Long (Manager, Information North) and Project Consultant David Parry.

This material is also avilable on the Commission's website http://www.lic.gov.uk .