British Library to digitise centuries old newspapers and offer it online
19 May 2010
The British Library plans to digitise 40 million pages of newspapers, including fragile newspapers dating back three and a half centuries from its archive and make them available online.
The newspapers include 52,000 local, national and international titles that are currently kept in a store in North London, which is used by 30,000 researchers every year.
The national library plans to digitise around four million newspaper pages during the first two years and up to 40 million pages over a period of 10 years.
The British Library holds the world's largest collection of newspapers, most of which are currently on microfilm or bound in bulky volumes. Researchers have to come to London if they want to look at them.
Making them available online would help improve access to the information, said the British Library.
The project, that is expected to cost millions of pounds, will be borne entirely by Brightsolid, a subsidiary of the Dundee publisher DC Thomson that owns findymypast.co.uk and Friends Reunited.
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