I'm very pleased to be able to announce the following to the DLF community.
Please feel free to forward this on to any interested parties or lists that
you feel should know about this news.

David

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THE BRITISH LIBRARY IS THE FIRST ORGANIZATION TO JOIN THE DIGITAL LIBRARY
FEDERATION FROM OUTSIDE OF NORTH AMERICA.

For Immediate Release
Contact: David Seaman <[log in to unmask]>

Washington, D.C. -- The Executive Committee of the Digital Library
Federation is pleased to announce that the British Library has joined the
DLF as its first Strategic Partner from outside the US.

"I am delighted that the British Library has accepted our invitation to
join," said David Seaman, Executive Director of the DLF. "We are a
fast-moving consortium of very active academic digital libraries and we
treat growth with caution, so as not to undermine our nimbleness of
operation; however, the addition of one of the world's great libraries will
significantly enrich our collaborative work and will provide a vital
perspective to our endeavors."

Under CEO Lynne Brindley, the British Library has embarked upon a
significant expansion of its digital library program, one that will benefit
not only citizens of the United Kingdom, but readers and researchers
everywhere.  The decision by the British Library to join the Digital Library
Federation signals not only the determination of the BL to exploit the
possibilities for research and study as well as for communication and
collaboration of digital information resources, but also the synergetic
benefits to be gained in that expansion by joining the Digital Library
Federation, a group of similarly activated and determined institutions.

"I am very pleased that the Digital Library Federation has asked us to join
their progressive and innovative partnership", said Lynne Brindley. "Many of
the challenges of providing world-class digital information services and
resources can only be accomplished through close co-operation and
partnership.  The DLF has an active membership that leads the world in these
developments."

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The Digital Library Federation, founded in 1995, is a partnership
organization of academic libraries and related organizations that are
pioneering the use of electronic-information technologies to extend their
collections and services. Through its strategic partners, the DLF provides
leadership for libraries by identifying standards and "best practices" for
digital collections and network access; coordinating research and
development in the libraries' use of technology; and incubating projects and
services that libraries need but cannot develop individually.  The DLF
operates under the administration umbrella of the Council on Library and
Information Resources (CLIR).
http://www.diglib.org

The British Library houses the world's knowledge, and is one of the top
three libraries in the world. It is the UK's national library and the
world's leading resource for scholarship, research and innovation. Its
collection covers every age of written civilisation, every written language
and every aspect of human thought. Material held by the Library ranges from
ancient Chinese oracle bones to technical reports about the latest
scientific discoveries and today's newspapers. Users, ranging from
industrial companies to academic scholars, have access to the Library's
collection in its reading rooms and via its global document supply services,
which supply over 15,000 documents per day to 20,000 customers in 111
countries. Information on the Library's collection and services is available
on the British Library website at http://www.bl.uk