On 26 September, the New York Public Library (NYPL) and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF) signed a historic agreement to preserve and make accessible collections and scholarship related to cultural heritage, in other words:
- to share existing digital images and metadata for use online and by researchers;
- to digitise collections strategically around areas of mutual interest related to heritage;
- to develop content partnerships, with curators from both organisations collaborating and utilising collections at the two libraries to do research and write essays around heritage;
- to launch short-term fellowships with a focus on areas of mutual interest;
- to plan and host a series of research symposia.
On this occasion, Laurence Engel, president of the BnF, of which the Fondation Napoléon is also a partner, declared: “Working together is one of the best ways to assure the preservation and the sharing of our common heritage.”. And (with an eye on the recent lamentable emergence of the concept of « fake news ») the President of the NYPL, Anthony Marx, noted: « The primary materials that we make available support the search for truth and fact, which is arguably more important today than ever before. »