Organized by the Netherlands National Commission for UNESCO and the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, the National Library of the Netherlands, the conference is focussing on issues of interest for higher management in libraries, archives and museums, and other policy makers in the field of information and culture.

“The special characteristics of digital objects ask for new preservation polices and agreements” says Gerard van Trier from the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, who acts as the Conference chair. “Amongst the many problems that librarians, archivists and other information professionals face, two issues seem to be especially important: the selection of material and the division of tasks and responsibilities between institutions for preservation purposes”, adds van Trier. These issues are also mentioned in the ‘Charter on the Preservation of the Digital Heritage’, adopted at the 32nd session of the General Conference of UNESCO in November 2003.

At the conference a range of state of the art examples will be presented from a variety of materials, heritage institutions and cooperation schemes. The aim is to further clarify the above mentioned issues and to formulate recommendations on actions to be taken in the period to come.

The Netherlands National Commission for UNESCO says that it has a small budget to reimburse costs of stay and travel for a very limited number of participants. Participants wishing to use this provision can indicate this on the registration form that should be submitted by 3 October 2005.