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Newspapers SectionSurvey on Holdings of African Newspapers kept in National Archives, National or University Libraries in AfricaResults of the 2nd Questionnaire (June-September 2004) 22nd Business Meeting of the IFLA Newspapers Section Canberra 21st February 2005 IntroductionThe Covering letter of the 2nd Questionnaire and the Questionnaire itself were prepared together with Geoffrey Hamilton, and circulated to 31 National Libraries and Archives in 14 countries according to the replies received to the 1st Questionnaire, showing the most urgent needs in each country: The French speaking African countries were generally not as well off as the English speaking countries : 9 francophone countries were selected and 5 anglophone countries Reply to the 2nd Questionnaire17 replies were received from these countries, in general quite complete. The 2nd Questionnaire of course was much more detailed than the 1st one. One country, Zimbabwe informed us that all the newspaper holdings had been transferred to the National Archives. I must admit that I did not contact the Archives. As a matter of fact the Archives replied to the 1st Questionnaire and do not seem to need our first help. They sent a very complete list of their African periodicals (not only newspapers) and they have some plans for digitizing so I gave up to contact them again.Next stepsWe shall have to decide on various points and selections very soon. Would it be an idea to set up a small Project Working Group ? For instance 3 or 4 people. Tables and Newspapers selected for microfilming : On the Tables I have handed over to you, I have tried to give a general view of the replies to the 2nd Questionnaire. You have also a selection of the newspapers of which a microfilm is required by each relevant country for which I have worked out some data in order to set up a microfilming project. It is only a first attempt to consider the needs and the wish of each country and to know about what has already been filmed, completely or with gaps. You will see that only 3 titles (with changes) from Botswana, Niger and Swaziland have been partly or entirely microfilmed by the Library of Congress or the University of Chicago (ICON list). For all the other titles it will probably be necessary to carry out the complete microfilming (master negative, working negative and positive copy) of each newspaper. Until now I have not found any of these titles microfilmed. To purchase a copy of the existing microfilms will be cheaper than the carrying out of a master film but most of the existing films are not complete so it would be necessary to do this completing. It is a heavy task and expensive. How far shall we go or where shall we stop ?Copyright permission to film According to the replies it seems not too difficult to get a complete file for microfilming, sometimes promissed by the publisher, as most of these African newspapers are still published. But this results in another problem : copyright. I must admit I do not know at all how the African publishers feel about this problem. Anyway negotiations must be undertaken before the microfilming, probably between the National Library or the National Archives keeping the file, and the publisher.File with several title changes : As you will see on the list, some files have several title changes preceeding or succeeding the title mentioned on the Questionnaire. It is the case of Botswana daily news (one before this title and three later) and of Le Sahel (Niger) preceeded by five titles. Should we only microfilm the title of the newspaper required by the relevant country, or all the previous or successive titles of the file ? At Mauritius and Seychelles as well as in Chad there may be a choice to make between the 1st and the 2nd newspaper mentioned on the Questionnaire.Estimates of filming costs Precise specifications must be drawn up in order to know about the costs of the project : preparing of the items, filming, duplicating, delivery, storage, etc. It is necessary to get information on the prices required by the various providers (commercial or public). As an example I shall give you average prices in France : 1 reel of 35 mm silverhalid film of ca 600 images : round 100 euros (commercial providers' price) 1 image/frame (master, working negative, positive copy) : 0.30 euro (VAT included) ; same price for 1 or 2 pages per image.Microfilm provider How to organise the microfilming ? Shall we choose a provider (public or commercial) in a non African country or shall we try to find a provider in each African country concerned or in one African country which has the necessary equipment (ex. South Africa) ? Should the francophone newspapers be filmed by a French provider (ex. BnF or ACRPP) and the anglophone newspapers by an English or American provider (ex. British Library Newspaper Library, Scottish Microfilm Unit, Library of Congress, ICON) ? A call for bids has to be launched. Who should be the owner of the master negative ? The provider or a Programme/project Comittee or the library of the relevant country that required the film ? and who should have the right to use the working negative for copies on sale (with the permission from the publisher) ?Storage Storage of the master negatives : according to the replies to the Questionnaire most countries do not consider to store the master negative which could be stored by the provider or by a library where the special storage equipment is available as well as the best climatic conditions. But the premises should certainly be situated in a neutral country (ex. The Netherlands, Sweden or Norway ?) As to the storage of the working negative the best solution would probably be that the provider store these negatives so he could also make new copies for sale or for the African institution which keeps the hardcopy. A positive copy should be sent to the National Library or Archives of the relevant country. Estimates of equipment costs Most of the replies show that reading and storage equipment is very much needed. According to 13 replies from 11 countries there is no reader or reader-printer available as well as storage equipment. Which equipment to choose ? Bell & Howell readers and reader-printers ? (Library reader 1000) ? or Canon or ? Storage equipment for positive copies ? Steel cabinets or ordinary shelves set up for reels in boxes ? 6 boxes to be put into another box to store on the shelves (all boxes should be in acid free cardboard).Funding of the projectWould it be possible that IFLA fund a part of the project in 2006 ? We should probably turn to IFLA PAC who might apply to IFLA Headquarters for funding. But we must also find sponsors for the project. We shall have to look for public and private sponsorships :
ConclusionTo conclude I should say that the second Questionnaire has allowed us to delimit a first project : number of titles to film, already existing films to buy (which sometimes need to be completed), need of reading and storage equipment. As to the completing of existing films a query should be sent to ICON (James Simon) to know about the exact gaps in the films. Looking for providers and setting up of specifications to launch the bid are the next steps to be taken as well as the looking for sponsorships. So there is still a good deal to be done in order to conduct and achieve this project positively. Else Delaunay, Canberra, Australia | |
