1. Context

France has a considerable number of graphic collections to preserve. By "graphic documents" we mean objects such as books, manuscripts, brochures, collections, unbound documents, prints, posters, maps and plans. These collections are held in archives, libraries and museums, but also in institutional services (government departments, ministries), notaries' offices and private collections. In 2010, there were 2,236 linear kilometers (kml) of documents in the 101 departmental archives, 536 kml in the 760 communal archives, 75 kml in the regional archives and 366 kml in the three national archive centers. At the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) alone, in 2008, there were 14 million books and prints, 250,000 manuscripts, 36,000 periodical titles, 12 million prints, photographs and posters. France also boasts 4,398 libraries, each of which holds significant quantities of graphic documents....