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ARLINGTON, Va.—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 digital preservation. 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 artifacts over long periods of time," said Associate Librarian for Strategic Initiatives Laura E. Campbell, who is directing the 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 June 16 signing 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 Library of Congress and NSF workshop in April 2002 that developed a research agenda in these areas. 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 challenges of digital preservation require advances in many areas of computer and information science," said Peter A. Freeman, head of NSF's Computer and Information Science and Engineering directorate. "We are pleased to be collaborating with the Library of Congress to safeguard the digital record of our nation's history."
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, seeks proposals in three main focus areas:
- 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 http://www.cise.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_display.cfm?pub_id=13106 for current information.
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.
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