To enhance the exchange of information between curators in Europe several colleagues have been asked to compile a progress report for their country, ideally in collaboration or consultation with fellow curators from that country. These national reports should be brief and should focus on manuscript activities important to colleagues abroad. They should cover the period between two conferences (here: The Hague and Berlin, 2003-2007). The format of the report should be fixed, allowing coverage of: 1. Acquisitions. — 2. Cataloguing projects. — 3. Digital access. — 4. Conservation. — 5. Selected exhibitions. — 6. Other research activities. — 7. Selected literature. — 8. Education. — 9. News on staff, organizations; varia.
The reports will be distributed among the participants of the conference beforehand. They will also be published on the new website of LIBER’s Manuscript Librarians Group, hosted by the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague. In this session ten ‘reporters’ will highlight two or three major events or developments in their countries and comment on the making of the reports: collaboration with colleagues in the country, difficulties, time spent. It is hoped that the national reports will proof a useful tool in ‘communicating manuscripts’.