From October 2020 to October 2021, the German National Library and Library and Archives Canada will be holding a four-part series in which they discuss the impact of digitization on national documentary heritage institutions and talk about their current priorities.
The first of these conversations took place in October 2020 as part of the Frankfurt Book Fair. The series is part of a wider cultural programme organised by Canada and Germany to emphasise Canada’s role as an honorary guest at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2021.
All four conversations will be published here as the project progresses.

Conversation 1: Methods and Priorities of Digitisation

During the opening conversation, Frank Scholze, Director General of the German National Library, and Leslie Weir, Librarian and Archivist of Canada, talk about digitisation methods and priorities in Germany and Canada.

Alexandra Haggert, project manager in the User Experience department of Library and Archives Canada is moderating the panel discussion.

Conversation 2: Digital Access and Participation

Please join us for this second discussion, about initiatives on providing digital access to collections and increasing participation.
The conversation, moderated by Francesco Manganiello (Director, Stakeholder Relations and International Affairs, Library and Archives Canada), will explore user access to institution collections through recent digital tools and services (DNBLab, Metadata Dumps, Co-Lab and Improved Collection Search Viewer).

Guest speakers

• Kathrin Jockel, Head of Content and Digitisation section, Digital Services, German National Library
• Anke Meyer-Heß, Head of Web, Portal and Data Services section, Digital Services, German National Library
• Mathieu Sabourin, Senior Archivist, Public Services Branch, Library and Archives Canada
• Alexandra Haggert, Senior Advisor, User Experience, Public Services Branch, Library and Archives Canada

Conversation 3: Web archives as a first draft of the present

In the third discussion „Web archives as a first draft of the present” Dr. Britta Woldering (Web Archiving Expert at the German National Library) and Roslynn Ross (Director, Digital Preservation and Migration Division, Library and Archives Canada ) talk about the opportunities and challenges that web archiving presents at both libraries.
Why is it important to preserve websites as part of our cultural heritage? As an artefact, how does the web differ from analogue and digital media and what are the implications of this in terms of archiving?

Francesco Manganiello (Director, Stakeholder Relations and International Affairs, Library and Archives Canada) chairs the discussion.

Conversation 4: Looking to the future: innovation and collaboration

Please join Frank Scholze, Director General of the German National Library, and Leslie Weir, Librarian and Archivist of Canada, for the fourth discussion in this series. The conversation will focus on innovation and future collaborations between our institutions. The conclusion of the series will be marked by the signing of a memorandum of understanding on collaboration between the two institutions.

Francesco Manganiello (Director, Stakeholder Relations and International Affairs, Library and Archives Canada) is moderating the discussion.