Written question asked by Jeremy Hunt (Conservative) on Monday, 22 October 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 24 October 2007. It was answered by Baroness Hodge of Barking (Labour) on Tuesday, 30 October 2007 on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Cultural Heritage: Databases

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what his Department's policy is on the creation of digital records of the UK's cultural assets.

Answer: Many of our cultural institutions are creating digital records of their collections. We consider this to be important in terms of preserving those collections and making them available online to the widest possible audiences. To support this, we recently announced £25 million of new funding to secure the future of the national and regional film archives and make them more accessible.We will shortly announce an archive review which will provide a basis for a digital strategy for culture in response to the European Commission's European Digital Library proposals.

Secondary information