On 14 November 2016, Victor-André Masséna, Prince d’Essling, President of the Fondation Napoléon, and Laurence Engel, President of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), signed the renewal of the agreement of cooperation in documentary and digital affairs initiated in 2014.

The cooperation agreement concerns the following joint action, namely: the mutual development and enhancement of the historical holdings related to the First and Second Napoleonic Empires at both institutions via the interoperability of their digital collections and the inclusion of the Fondation Napoléon’s holdings in the Répertoire national des bibliothèques et des fonds documentaires and the inclusion of the Bibliothèque Martial Lapeyre catalogue in the Catalogue collectif de France.

Via this partnership, the BnF and the Fondation Napoléon continue in their determination to search out innovative cooperation opportunities. The bedrock of the agreement is a concerted programme of digitisation. In accordance with its innovative policy, the BnF has, for a number of years, been creating new partnerships in order to provide an optimal diffusion of the contents of its own as well as its partners’ digital libraries via Gallica, notably in this case to the researchers and scholars gravitating around the Fondation.

Furthermore, the Fondation Napoléon will continue to benefit from the participation of conservators of the BnF at conferences relating to the private collections and the resources of Gallica and its partners: 6 conferences have already been given as part of the Foundation Napoléon ‘s Cercle d’Études. Finally, the BnF continues to provide an enhanced system of access and assistance with regard to its services for the winners of Fondation Napoléon study grants.

16 November 2016

The press release in pdf format