National Librarian elected

*** National Librarian elected to lead the Conference of Directors of National Libraries ***

National Librarian and Chief Executive of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, Penny Carnaby, has been elected to lead the World Conference of Directors of National Libraries (CDNL). The election took place at the World Library and Information Congress in Seoul 20-24 August.

"I am both honoured and optimistic about taking on the role to lead CDNL for the next two years. There is no doubt in my mind that the lead role the New Zealand Government played in shaping the open access to information agenda at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis last year led National Library Directors to support my nomination."

The international library community is looking positively at New Zealand's Digital Strategy and is particularly interested in the New Zealand Digital Content Strategy which is due to be launched in December this year. Digital Content has been the focus of the international library community in Seoul. There are now major national digitisation projects around the world surfacing precious and rare documentary stories and national identify of every nation.

As more content is produced on the web, long term preservation of digital memory is high on the international library community's agenda. In this regard, New Zealand is playing a leading part. The National Library of New Zealand's $24 million National Digital Heritage Archive project will provide a solution for preserving New Zealand digital memory for long-term access and lead the thinking in the international community.

Carnaby says "I am hopeful that New Zealand's Digital Content Strategy will deliver nationwide digitisation solutions for New Zealand unlocking content important to our national identity. In my role as chair of the Directors of National Libraries, I will focus on connecting the magnificent online stories of the national libraries of the world into one searchable view of the cultures of all nations.

I will be promoting a World National Digital Library project which would connect the major digital projects internationally. Wouldn't it be wonderful if a citizen browsing the websites of a small public library on the West Coast or a school in Kaitaia could access not only the resources of all the libraries of New Zealand but all the national libraries of the world, opening up a greater understanding of the rich cultures of each nation? Right now New Zealand needs to position itself to contribute and I am optimistic that New Zealand's Digital Content Strategy will help deliver New Zealand's story to the world."

ENDS

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