British Library heads for global digital archives

The British Library will make digital material and the internet more prominent in the future if stakeholders give the go-ahead to its latest strategic document.

The document, called New Strategic Directions, lists a set of ideas to make the library's collection more accessible to a wider audience via the web. Stakeholders have been asked to respond by 3 August so the British Library can finalise plans for the next five years. Stakeholders include readers, visitors and library staff.

A spokeswoman said: "We are looking at extending our audience by working in partnership with other libraries and organisations both in the UK and abroad."

She said that the idea is to ensure greater access and speed for gathering relevant material, claiming that the British Library recognises the importance of websites as a source of historical and cultural material.

"In development is a digital library system which would allow us to migrate material as technology changes and also a virtual European library network aiming to integrate and archive catalogues from other national libraries," she said.

The British Library has kept and catalogued every volume published in the UK for over 300 years.

The library will announce its final plans before the end of the year.