FY 2009 Information About Newspaper Processing
During Fiscal Year 2009, 14 microfilm records were created for newspapers sent for filming for the first time.
A total of 23,255 newspaper issues were received and checked in. The office has continued to play a significant role in the preservation of African newspapers. Throughout the year, a total of 485 reels (approximately 485, 000 pages) were collated and shipped to Library of Congress/New Delhi Office for microfilming. A list of newspapers filmed to date by the Library of Congress New Delhi Office [PDF/15.0 KB] may be viewed here. In addition, 7,298 issues of newspapers were sent directly to Library of Congress Washington.
Following the success of two Cooperative Africana Microform Project (CAMP) proposals by the Field Director in FY2008, the office received another grant from CAMP to ship 93, 000 pages of newspapers from Mauritius and Tanzania to Center for Research Libraries(CRL)for microfilming. A complete list of newspapers sent to CRL for microfilming is available here. Through the Field Director's initiative, the office also receive additional funding to film The Nation from Malawi. To date, Library of Congress has received some 167 reels of film from these various CAMP/CRL projects. During the year, an additional 8,000 pages of the oldest African newspapers awaiting filming were also shipped to Library of Congress to complete the funding of $64,000 from the Madison Council.
Despite the significant achievements in newspaper preservation, the office still has a huge backlog of newspapers in need of microfilming. The current newspaper backlog estimate stands at 1,008,000 pages of newspapers from many countries covered by the office. Countries with most backlogged newspaper issues are: Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Rwanda, Gabon, Tanzania, and Senegal. These are chiefly English, followed by French and various local languages. An estimated 500,000 pages of the backlog is English language material.
The Office also appreciates the services of John Cornell and Myron Chace, both from Library of Congress Washington, and Amit Roy from New Delhi Office for their continued support for the newspaper microfilm project.
Last Updated: November 17, 2010