[Sigdl-l] FW: Library of Congress and NSF Digital Preservation Collaboration

Tue Jun 22 11:57:43 EDT 2004

Message below is forwarded form the CNI-Announce list.  Dick Hill

------------
Richard Hill
Executive Director
American Society for Information Science and Technology
1320 Fenwick Lane, Silver Spring, MD  20910 
FAX: (301) 495-0810
Voice: (301) 495-0900
www.asis.org

> -----Original Message-----
> From: CNI-ANNOUNCE -- The Coalition Information Station [mailto:CNI-
> ANNOUNCE at cni.org] On Behalf Of Clifford Lynch
> Sent: Monday, June 21, 2004 12:56 PM
> To: CNI-ANNOUNCE -- The Coalition Information Station
> Subject: [CNI-ANNOUNCE] Library of Congress and NSF Digital Preservation
> Collaboration
> 
> The announcement below is another important step in the Library of
> Congress Digital Preservation program.
> 
> Clifford Lynch
> Director, CNI
> 
> ---------------------------
> 
> 
> News from the Library of Congress
> 
> June 14, 2004
> 
> Digital Preservation Program Launches Research Grants Initiative
> 
> Library of Congress Partners with National Science Foundation to Fund
> Advanced Research into Preservation of Digital Materials
> 
> The National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program
> of the Library of Congress (NDIIPP) is partnering with the National
> Science Foundation (NSF) to establish the first research grants program
> to specifically address the preservation of digital materials. NSF will
> administer the program, which will fund cutting-edge research to support
> the long-term management of digital information.This effort is part of
> the Library's collaborative program to implement a national digital
> preservation strategy.
> 
> "One of the most critical issues we face in the preservation of digital
> materials is a need for better technology and methods to manage these
> objects over long periods of time," said Associate Librarian for
> Strategic Initiatives Laura E. Campbell, who is directing this
> initiative for the Library. "We are very pleased to be working with the
> National Science Foundation to encourage important research
> breakthroughs. This will help the Library of Congress, as well as our
> network of partners who are working with us, to preserve America's
> digital heritage for future generations."
> 
> The research program announcement coincides with the signing today of a
> memorandum of understanding between the Library of Congress and NSF to
> collaborate over the next decade in a broad set of research activities
> related to digital libraries and digital archives. The formalized
> collaboration arose from a joint Library of Congress and NSF workshop in
> April 2002 that developed a research agenda in these areas. Through
> their leadership, NSF and the Library will encourage other government
> agencies to continue research support for improving the state of
> knowledge and practice of digital libraries and digital archiving.
> 
> The new Digital Archiving and Long-Term Preservation research program,
> which expects to make to make approximately $2 million in initial awards
> using NDIIPP funds, has three main focus areas for which proposals are
> sought:
> 
> Digital repository models
> Tools, technologies and processes
> Organizational, economic and policy issues.
> The NSF Directorate for Computer and Information Science and
> Engineering, Division of Information and Intelligent Systems, will issue
> a call for proposals shortly; check the NSF Web site at
> www.cise.nsf.gov/div/index.cfm?div=iis for current information.
> 
> BACKGROUND
> 
> In December 2000, Congress authorized the Library of Congress to develop
> and execute a congressionally approved plan for a National Digital
> Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program. A $99.8 million
> congressional appropriation was made to establish the program. According
> to Conference Report H. Rept. 106-1033, "The overall plan should set
> forth a strategy for the Library of Congress, in collaboration with
> other federal and nonfederal entities, to identify a national network of
> libraries and other organizations with responsibilities for collecting
> digital materials that will provide access to and maintain those
> materials. * In addition to developing this strategy, the plan shall set
> forth, in concert with the Copyright Office, the policies, protocols and
> strategies for the long-term preservation of such materials, including
> the technological infrastructure required at the Library of Congress."
> 
> The legislation mandates that the Library work with federal entities
> such as the Secretary of Commerce, the Director of the White House
> Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Archives and
> Records Administration, the National Library of Medicine, the National
> Agricultural Library, the National Institute of Standards and Technology
> and "other federal, research and private libraries and institutions with
> expertise in telecommunications technology and electronic commerce
> policy." The goal is to build a network of committed partners with
> defined roles and responsibilities working through a preservation
> architecture.
> 
> The Library of Congress digital strategy is being formulated in concert
> with a study, commissioned by the Librarian of Congress, and undertaken
> by the National Research Council Computer Science and Telecommunications
> Board. "LC 21: A Digital Strategy for the Library of Congress" was
> issued July 26, 2000, and made several recommendations, including that
> the Library, working with other institutions, take the lead in the
> preservation and archiving of digital materials.
> 
> The complete text of the "Plan for the National Digital Information
> Infrastructure and Preservation Program" is available at
> www.digitalpreservation.gov. This includes an explanation of how the
> plan was developed, whom the Library worked with to develop the plan and
> the key components of the digital preservation infrastructure. The plan
> was approved by Congress in December 2002.
> 
> A national-level multisector interdisciplinary workshop was convened by
> the Library and the National Science Foundation in April 2002 to
> identify the significant and unique research issues and opportunities
> related to long-term management and preservation of digital materials.
> The workshop report is published as "It's About Time: Research
> Challenges in Digital Archiving and Long-term Preservation" and is
> available at
> http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/index.php?nav=3&subnav=11.
> 
> NSF has a history of support for research in digital government and
> digital libraries, which will benefit the new collaboration with the
> Library of Congress. The NSF Digital Government Research Program
> (www.digitalgovernment.org) was established in 1999 in response to a
> number of national workshops recommending sponsored research in this
> area. Its goal is to study problems that intersect traditional computer
> science research and the information needs of federal agencies. The
> program supports research projects that innovatively, effectively and
> broadly address potential improvement of agency, interagency and
> intergovernmental operations and government-citizen interaction.
> 
> NSF led the federal government's interagency 1994-2004 Digital Libraries
> Initiative (www.dli2.nsf.gov), which was established to extend and
> develop innovative digital library technologies and applications. The
> initiatives involved the Library of Congress, the Defense Advanced
> Research Projects Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space
> Administration, the National Library of Medicine and the National
> Endowment for the Humanities, with participation from the National
> Archives and the Smithsonian Institution. Today, NSF continues to
> support digital libraries research through projects established by the
> Digital Libraries Initiative and an International Digital Libraries
> Collaborative Research program. In addition, NSF administers the
> National Science Digital Library (www.nsdl.org), which aims to establish
> a network of learning environments and resources for science,
> technology, engineering and mathematics education.
> 
> The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world. Through its
> National Digital Library (NDL) Program, it is also one of the leading
> providers of noncommercial intellectual content on the Internet
> (www.loc.gov). The NDL Program's flagship American Memory project, in
> collaboration with 33 institutions nationwide, makes freely available
> more than 8.5 million American historical items.
> 
> The National Science Foundation is an independent federal agency that
> supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science
> and engineering. National Science Foundation funds reach all 50 states
> through grants to nearly 2,000 universities and institutions. Each year,
> NSF receives about 40,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes
> about 11,000 new funding awards. The National Science Foundation also
> awards more than $200 million in professional and service contracts
> yearly.
> 
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