The Endangered Archives Programme (EAP) has been funding the digitization of archives around the world since 2004, providing grants to almost 500 projects in over ninety countries worldwide, in more than a hundred languages and scripts. Based at the British Library, EAP provides free access to all the digital images, sound files and catalog data resulting from these projects via the EAP website. ‘Endangered’ means material that is at risk of loss or decay, and is located in countries where resources and opportunities to preserve such material are lacking or limited. ‘Archives’ refers to materials in written, pictorial or audio formats, including manuscripts, rare printed books, documents, newspapers, periodicals, photographs, and sound recordings. All EAP projects have some element of capacity building, so that digitization equipment and skills remain in the institutions where they are carried out.

In this talk, Sam van Schaik, head of the Endangered Archives Programme, will discuss how EAP has evolved over the last two decades, some of the highlights of the projects EAP is funding now, and the challenges for the future of global digitization.

The location for the talk will be confirmed in early 2025.