NDIIPP Launches Newsletter
Beginning this month, the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP) will publish a newsletter on this Web site with information about NDIIPP as well as other efforts in the digital libraries arena, especially in digital preservation. The field of digital preservation is dynamic, and there are many institutions, agencies and other organizations doing excellent work to help preserve the cultural and historical information that is increasingly being created in digital form.
This spring, NDIIPP will announce the institutions that will receive rewards under the Program Announcement to Support Building a Network of Partners. The proposals, which were due Nov. 12, 2003, are in the final stages of evaluation. The Library of Congress is pleased to report that 22 eligible proposals were received. Be sure to check this Web site for the announcement of the winning proposals.
"The Library looks forward to making this important announcement and getting to work with our new partners in this critical and historic project," said Laura E. Campbell, associate librarian for Strategic Initiatives. "Together, we will begin building the digital preservation network of partners that will lay the foundation for NDIIPP and be key to its success."
Campbell is quoted in the January 2004 cover story of IEEE Spectrum (external link) in the article "The Infinite Archive." According to the article, "digital preservation cannot be done on an ad hoc basis. That's why in 2000, the United States Congress authorized the NDIIPP."
Government Printing Office Issues Digital Preservation Report
In other news, the Government Printing Office has just released the Report from the Meeting of Experts on Digital Preservation. The meeting was the first activity of an initiative with the federal depository library community to digitize the entire collection of U.S. government documents now in U.S. depositories. Participants included representatives from major universities, the National Library of Medicine, the National Agricultural Library, as well as the Library of Congress. Martha Anderson, a program manager for NDIIPP, represented the Library.
What Will Access Be Like 100 Years From Now?
The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) has just published in its March/April 2004 CLIR Issues newsletter "Access in the Future Tense" (external link) by Director of Programs Abby Smith. The report is the result of a May 2003 conference organized by CLIR to "examine key factors shaping the information environment." Smith begins with a not-farfetched scenario 100 years from now in which researchers are unable to access once-accessible information.
Lippincott Award Goes to Lynch
Clifford A. Lynch, director of the Coalition for Networked Information (external link), will receive the 2004 Lippincott Award (external link) from the American Library Association. The award "recognizes an individual for distinguished service to the profession of librarianship." Lynch will receive the award on June 29, during the ALA Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla.
Kahle Receives Peters Award
Brewster Kahle, founder and chairman of the board of the Internet Archive, has won the 2004 Paul Evan Peters Award (external link). The award "recognizes the most notable and lasting international achievements related to high performance networks and the creation and use of information resources and services that advance scholarship and intellectual productivity." Peters was the founding director of the Coalition for Networked Information. The award is given jointly by CNI, the Association for Research Libraries and EDUCAUSE.
NSF Report of Future of Digital Libraries Released
"Knowledge Lost in Information: Report of the National Science Foundation Workshop on Research Directions for Digital Libraries" (PDF, 683KB) is now available. The workshop was held in June 2003 in Chatham, Mass., and was the result of a National Science Foundation award.
MIT's Dspace Initiative Preliminary Report Available
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in March hosted a meeting in March of the DSpace User Group. DSpace is a "digital library system to capture, store, index, preserve and redistribute the intellectual output of a university's research faculty in digital formats." A preliminary summary (external link) of the meeting is now online.
Ohio State University, OCLC to Study Use of Electronic Resources
Researchers at Ohio State University and OCLC Online Computer Library Center are conducting a new study to find out how and why students and faculty members use electronic information sources to do research and solve problems. The $1 million project is a collaboration between Ohio State and OCLC. The two-year study will run through Dec. 31, 2005. The project will be partially funded with a $480,543 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The remainder of the funding will come from Ohio State and OCLC. For more on the project, visit the OCLC Research Web site (external link).
