Collaborative Newspaper Digitisation Programme

Overview Collaborative Newspaper Digitisation Programme

For the Collaborative Newspaper Digitisation Programme, we consider material that meets the following criteria.

• Your material will need to meet the Library of Congress definition of a newspaper.

• Digitisation is easier if the paper is out of copyright, however, we will look at titles up to the end of 1950. If you have a title that is less than 100 years old and are unsure of the copyright, get in touch before applying.

• We prefer to start new titles at the beginning of their runs and avoid gaps if possible.

Email us if you’re unsure. We’ll consider all applications.

Email — collaborative.digitisation@dia.govt.nz

Criteria — Collaborative Newspaper Digitisation Programme

Titles included in the Collaborative Newspaper Digitisation Programme need to meet the following criteria.

Newspaper criteria

1. It’s a newspaper.

2. It was/is published in New Zealand or the Pacific.

3. It's of regional or national significance.

4. The date range can be up to and including 1950 and should be continuous.

5. It is free of rights issues or these can be resolved in time.

6. The minimum run of a title is one year.

What is a newspaper?

We use the Library of Congress definition:

A newspaper is a serial publication, appearing usually at least weekly, which serves as a primary source of information on current events of general interest. While format can vary widely, newspapers are normally published without a cover, but with a masthead or banner, and are normally larger than 12 by 17 inches.

On a practical level, we will consider a publication to be a newspaper if it meets at least six of the following seven criteria:

• it is a source of information on current events of general interest

• it is printed at least weekly

• it was originally printed on newsprint

• it does not have a cover

• it does have a masthead

• it is A3 or greater in size, and

• it has four or more columns on a typical page.

Newspaper date range

We limit the date range of newspapers included to those published up to and including 1950.

We prefer to start digitising a title from the beginning of publication or the earliest issue available. When extending the run of an existing title, we like a run to continue seamlessly without introducing gaps in the date range.

Newspaper rights

Before we include a title in the Collaborative Newspaper Digitisation Programme, we must assess its copyright status (see section 6). If you are thinking about including newspapers published less than 100 years ago, there may be copyright issues that need to be resolved.

Options for digitising newspapers

There are three options for participation in the Collaborative Newspaper Digitisation Programme:

• Digitise this year: If your newspapers are already microfilmed, they can be included right away – we digitise microfilm because it's cheaper and easier than doing the original papers.

• Microfilm for next year: If your newspapers need filming we'll do that now, and digitise them in next year's programme.

• Letter of support: If your submission is accepted but you need funding, we'll supply a letter of support you can use to help fundraise for next year's programme.

Rights

Before we can digitise a title for Papers Past, we have to assess its copyright status. If it is in copyright we will need to gain the consent of the rights owner(s).

Any research you can do to investigate the ownership of the title before applying will be of great assistance to us. Please include any sources used in the research in your application.

If your title has been microfilmed, we will also need permission from the owners of the master microfilms, if that is not the National Library.

Newspaper copyright

Newspaper copyright is difficult to summarise, but the key point is that newspapers published after 1923 may contain in-copyright articles.

Our policy is to assess the level of copyright risk before digitising any newspaper that was published after 1923. We determine whether there are significant copyright risk factors and how they can be mitigated.

Risk factors that we look for in post-1923 material include:

• active publishers who own the copyright

• material that was licensed, such as cartoons, press association articles or crosswords, particularly if the licensor is still active, and

• authors who are explicitly named, for example in the by-line of an article.

If the newspaper (or any article within the newspaper) is still in copyright, we will attempt to gain permission from the appropriate sources, or resolve any copyright issues, before the publication can be digitised.

Microfilm ownership

As we digitise from microfilm, the microfilm owner must consent to the digitisation process. Usually, this is not a problem because either the National Library owns the master microfilms, or you do. If this is not the case, we will need permission from the owner of the master microfilms before the publication can be digitised.

We strongly recommend that master microfilms created as part of this programme are donated to the Alexander Turnbull Library to ensure preservation in a controlled environment.

Process

Once we receive your application, we will assess the newspaper/microfilm for quality, completeness and any rights issues. We’ll contact you to discuss this if required.

The pages for digitisation are then divided amongst the applicants. Therefore, we may not be able to include all the pages you have requested.

Where microfilming is required we’ll discuss the options with you. In general, all microfilming will be carried out a year before any digitising.

If your application is accepted, we’ll let you know and provide you with a digitisation agreement. Sign the digitisation agreement, return a copy of this and the digitisation process will start.

Digitise

On completion of the signed paperwork, the title will be included in the National Library of New Zealand Newspaper Digitisation Programme. Our vendors will scan the microfilms, and then capture the images and convert them to text. We'll look after all this for you. in the meantime, you could tell your community about the coming release of the digitised material.

Publish on Papers Past

Once we get the digitised data back, we’ll assess it to see if it meets our quality standards. Any issues identified will be resolved. Once it has passed these tests it will be included for release in Papers Past. We'll notify you in advance of the release of the material.

Invoice

We’ll invoice you for your share of the digitisation costs after we have received the final page counts and vendor costs. We’ll talk to you about the best way to invoice your organisation. If you have special invoicing requirements (such as needing to be invoiced by a particular date), please let us know as soon as possible.

Final steps

We add the data to the National Digital Heritage Archive, where it will be digitally preserved to ensure long-term access.

National Digital Heritage Archive (NDHA)

Applications for Newspaper Collaborative Digitisation Programme

Due to external delays to our digitisation programme, we will not be calling for new applicants in 2024.

The next collaborative digitisation programme will open for applications in 2025.

Need help?

If you need help with your application or have questions email us at collaborative.digitisation@dia.govt.nz