"It is terrible to hear from former professor Wallace Kirsop, convener of the State Library of Victoria Users Group, that the federal government is withdrawing funding for the digitisation of newspapers. This will mean that the newspapers of Australia's country towns will not be digitised.
These papers are frequently the only sources of historical information for the past 200 years on such towns. They are valuable resources for family historians too, many of whom use the State Library.
Minister Peter Garrett should reinstate the funding for this most valuable cultural work immediately. I hope Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will intervene to stop this cultural vandalism.
Of course, Arts Minister Peter Batchelor could come up with the money for Victorian country newspapers. Perhaps he might inform your readers and the users of the State Library exactly what amount of money is spent on book and other acquisitions for the library. Wallace Kirsop, three State Library of Victoria staff and I could not find it.
It seems to be a pittance of about $2 million. By contrast, the University of Melbourne has a library acquisition budget of more than $20 million."
by Paul Knobel, convener, State Library of NSW Constant Users Group, Randwick, NSW
From The Age Letters 27.4.2010
No other details available at this stage, don’t know how or if this will affect the State Library’s “Digitising Victorian Newspapers Project” and our hopes for the Horsham Times/Wimmera Mail Times.
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