The Library of Congress: The Library of Congress: Preserving our Digital Legacies

Butch LazorchakLibrary of Congressy g

NCSL 2010Thursday April 7, 2010

Library of Congress National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP)

Mission: To ensure access over time to a rich body of digital time to a rich body of digital content through the establishment of a national network of partners committed to selecting, collecting and preserving at-risk digital information

•Learn By DoingCatalyze Activity•Catalyze Activity

•Support Collaboration•Break Down Boundaries

Key Takeaways

• There are costs and benefits to preserving digital legislative informationinformation

• The Library of Congress is thinking g gabout this issue and can be a trusted

tpartner• We need your help

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Is Digital Preser ation a “cost Is Digital Preservation a “cost center” or a “benefits center”?

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It’s All in How You Look at it

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Digital Legislative Materials

• AccessibleDi t ib t bl• Distributable

• Searchable• Remix-able• Useable

Your Constituents

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Enhanced Access Drives Incentives to PreservePreserve

Benefits

• Accessibility creates Use• Use creates Demand• Demand creates Value• Value creates Benefits

N h t i t d ith • Now what are you going to do with all those Benefits?

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Benefits? Why Preserve? Or, is “Preservation” a Dirty Word?Preservation a Dirty Word?

Preserve Digital Materials byLeveraging Other Use CasesLeveraging Other Use Cases

Maximize investment

Generate Revenue Legal

Mandate

investmentRevenue

Ensure E h dB Al

Save

Enhanced Access to Support a

But Also…Money

Support a Variety of

Unforeseen Di t R d COOP

Document Business Processes for Improved

Uses!Not just “Cultural Heritage”…

Disaster Recovery and COOP

Document Business Processes for Improved Decision-making

How to Mitigate Costs

Leverage Existing Infrastructures• Leverage Existing Infrastructures• Take Advantage of Economies of Scale• Capture “Data in Motion”• Capture Data in Motion• Readdress the lifecycle of information• Forever or 5 years whichever comes • Forever or 5 years, whichever comes

first!

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Preservation is a Series of Handoffs

•Technological

•Social

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The Long-term Digital Public Record

What about collections? What about permanence?

What about t it ?!?!?!?!eternity?!?!?!?!

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Somebody Has to Be Thinking about the Futurethe Future

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Library of Congress National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP)

Mission: To ensure access over time to a rich body of digital time to a rich body of digital content through the establishment of a national network of partners committed to selecting, collecting and preserving at-risk digital information

•Learn By DoingCatalyze Activity•Catalyze Activity

•Support Collaboration•Break Down Boundaries

NDIIPP is Externally-Focused

NDIIPP Focus Areas

• National Digital CollectionP t hi • Partnerships: Government, Industry, Academia

• Technical Infrastructure• Sustainability• Public Policy• Public Policy

NDIIPP Content: Collections

Text & Images Audiovisual Geospatial Web sites

The NDIIPP Way

Learn By Doing: Have to Start Somewhere!• Learn By Doing: Have to Start Somewhere!• Can’t Do it Alone: Collaboration is KEY

S k N L• Speak New Languages• Don’t Reinvent the Wheel: Leverage Existing

Infrastructure(s)Infrastructure(s)• When To Preserve?: New Approaches to

WorkflowWorkflow

Sometimes You Just Have to Start Somewhere…

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CollaborationCollaboration

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Speak New Languages

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Don’t Reinvent the Wheel: Leverage Existing Infrastructure(s)Existing Infrastructure(s)

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Don’t Reinvent the Wheel: Leverage Existing Infrastructure(s)Existing Infrastructure(s)

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When To Preserve?: New Approaches to Workflow

Transparency Benefits Preservation!

Format Standards, Workflows, Stimulating Demand, etc.

What can you do?

• Acknowledge the costs but recognize the many g ybenefits to preserving digital legislative information

• Consider the Library of yCongress a trusted partner: How can we work together?

• Tell EVERYBODY!htt // g/ t t/ 14808/l t t/Y C D It j ghttp://cnx.org/content/m14808/latest/YouCanDoIt.jpg

National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation ProgramPreservation Program

http://www.digitalpreservation.gov

Questions?

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Thanks!

• Butch Lazorchak, Digital Archivist, Library of Congress wlaz@loc.govwlaz@loc.gov

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