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In short

Over the past few years, BnF’s digitization policy has been expanded and the pace of digitization has accelerated, particularly in the context of the European Digital Library.

This policy comprises various programs, which are defined in terms of topics, collections, or document types and implemented by BnF, either on its own or in partnership with other institutions.

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Gallica Digital Library Charter: 1997 - 2007

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Digitization policy

At the outset of the Gallica digital library, a detailed documentary charter focusing on national heritage precisely defined the criteria used to select the some 5-6,000 printed documents digitized each year.

In the context of the European Digital Library, the three major current focuses of BnF’s digitization policy are as follows:

  • national heritage (the sum of works and knowledge in every discipline: philosophy, history, literature, religion, science, etc.)
  • international programs (comparing and contrasting heritage corpora covering the same subject but arising from different nationalities: daily press, legal documentation, history and ancillary sciences such as genealogy, languages and language learning, etc.)
  • <a corpus of works and materials dedicated to all aspects of Europe (political philosophy, national identities, history, economics, trade, labor, professions, science and technology, social issues, major cultural events, etc.)

BnF digitizes all types of materials:

  • printed materials (monographs and periodicals)
  • manuscripts
  • prints
  • maps and plans
  • photographs
  • sound recordings, etc.

Materials are digitized either in their original form or on microform (microfilm and microfiche).

A few figures

At present and over the next few years, BnF is committed to digitizing and making available online the following:

  • 100,000 printed materials (monographs and periodicals) every year for three years (from 2008 to 2010)
  • several thousand press books
  • several thousand graphic materials

Digitized materials which are in the public domain, or access to which has been negotiated with rights holders, may be accessed online via either Gallica or the Catalogue général de la BnF. Gallica also provides access to other types of digitized materials from collections held by BnF’s partners.

En savoir plus

sur les collections et le nombre de documents numérisés accessibles dans Gallica

Monday, March 14, 2011