National Library of Scotland appeals for assistance to preserve newspapers

From the National Library of Scotland (www.nls.uk):

We are appealing for donations to help us preserve our newspaper collections and make them available online.

Our newspaper collections are a rich reflection of Scottish history from the 1600s to the present day. Comprising millions of newspapers – national titles, local papers, dailies and periodicals – they tell stories beyond the global headlines.

But newspapers were never made to last longer than a day. They are printed on cheap newsprint paper, which degrades over time.

Our climate- and pH-controlled storage can only slow down the newspaper degradation process – it cannot stop it outright. With your support our conservators can carry out urgent repairs to our most damaged newspapers and prepare them to be digitised.

Further information on the appeal is outlined at https://www.nls.uk/support-nls/newspapers/

* I have asked the NLS if it can share any more about plans to digitise and make the newspapers available online - the article signposted to only mentions the important need to conserve them. 

In the meantime I have made a donation, and would encourage you to do also if you can - if you think about what has already been placed online via the British Newspaper Archive, this could be another major gamechanger for Scottish family history research.

UPDATE: From the NLS - "Hi Chris. Each newspaper needs to be assessed and conserved before it's digitised so this is the focus of the appeal. But we will digitise as many as we can and put them online (where copyright allows). Keep an eye out on our Digital Gallery as we add them in the coming months."

Keep your eyes peeled folks! 

(With thanks to the NLS)

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.