Strategic Directions and Initiatives at the Library of Congress

1. Strategic Directions and Initiatives at the Library of Congress Laura E. Campbell Associate Librarian for Strategic Initiatives and Chief Information Officer Library of Congress January 21, 2009

2. Library Digital Initiatives: Timeline

3. 1990s Strategy: Increasing Accessibility • Open the Library’s Treasures to the general public • American Memory • Thomas • Learning Page

4. American Memory

5. Provides resources for learning about the legislative process and resources for legislative researchers • Launched in January of 1995, at the inception of the 104th Congress • Contains a list of legislative and other government resources

7. Strategies for the 21st Century: Engaging the Interactive Audience • Expand Library online offerings and increase usage through new channels • Embrace networks of diverse partners

8. Includes bilingual, multimedia digital libraries, built together with international partners • Individual digital collections focus on history and cultures around the world • Resources provide authoritative and in-depth information

9. National Digital Newspaper Program

10. Flickr Project • Pilot of 3,000 images from the Library • Brings our content to new audiences • 10.4 million views of the photos in the first 10 months • Also brings users to the Library • Users supplying metadata

12. The Library of Congress on YouTube

13. Network Strategies: Leveraging Experience • National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP) • World Digital Library (WDL)

14. National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP) • To ensure access over time to a rich body of digital content through the establishment of a national network of committed partners. • Created by federal legislation (PL 106-554) in December 2000 • Guided by National Digital Strategy Advisory Board (NDSAB) • Preserving Our Digital Heritage national NDIIPP plan approved December 2002

15. Overall NDIIPP Goals • Identify and preserve at-risk digital content • Develop a national digital collection and preservation strategy • Support development of improved tools, models, and methods for digital preservation • Work with industry, concerned federal agencies, libraries, research institutions and not-for-profit entities

16. NDIIPP is a Portfolio of Activities • Library can no longer collect “everything” • Formed a network of more than 130 partners to: • Collect and preserve important digital content at risk of loss • Conduct digital preservation research • Construct an interoperable technical infrastructure to support long-term preservation • Explore Intellectual Property issues

17. NDIIPP Initial Digital Preservation Investments • In 2004, 36 institutions received awards as members of 8 consortia to collect and preserve important digital content: • Geospatial data • Political Web sites • Business/Economic History • Cultural Material • Public television • Social Services Data Sets

18. Diverse Partners • Universities • Public broadcasting • Commercial content distributors and owners • State governments • Other federal agencies • New business services • Technology companies • Other national libraries

20. Public Television…Film footage of the early Beatles, from the archives of PBS

21. Southern Culture…Vocational students in 1926, from the collections of Auburn University

22. Foreign News Broadcasts…Al-Jazeera, from SCOLA partnership. Used by Congress and other policymakers

23. Geospatial Information…Useful for studying demographics, populations

24. International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC) • Enable the collection of a rich body of Internet content from around the world to be preserved in a way that it can be archived, secured and accessed over time • Foster the development and use of common tools, techniques and standards that enable the creation of international archives • Encourage and support national libraries everywhere to address Internet archiving and preservation.

25. NDIIPP Partner Communities States Commercial Content Producers Content Research Section 108 Working Group Digital Preservation Consortia Federal & International Alliances Technical Architecture Business Models

26. National Alliancefor Content Stewardship • So far, the Library and its partners have collected 248 terabytes of at-risk digital content • Will increase to 650 terabytes by 2013 • Projects now reach 37 states • Will reach 50 states by 2013

27. NDIIPP Strategy • Take early action • Learn by doing • Be catalytic • Act collaboratively • Engage Multiple platforms • Leverage Natural, Distributed Networks • Share Resources

28. National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Programhttp://www.digitalpreservation.gov

29. World Digital Library Network • Offers significant primary materials of different cultures from institutions around the world to increase global understanding among all cultures. • Project being developed in cooperation with UNESCO. • Prototype launched during UNESCO meeting in Paris in October 2007. • Over 25 partners

31. Rare and Unique Primary Sources • Books • Manuscripts • Maps • Prints and Photographs • Motion Pictures • Sound Recordings

32. Enhanced Descriptions and Intelligent Search • Annotations • Curator videos • Consistent, high-quality metadata

33. Primary Access Points • Place • Time • Topic • Type of Item • Institution Or by any combination of these options

34. Multilingualism • Arabic • Chinese • English • French • Portuguese • Russian • Spanish

43. WDL Strategy • Three pillars: • Content acquisition: Historically significant primary materials from cultures around the world • Construction of a sustainable network for production and distribution of content • Development of state-of-the-art website • Next Steps: • Public Launch date: April 21, 2009. • Content about all 193 UNESCO member countries will be included. • The Bibliotheca Alexandrina will host a mirror site.

44. World Digital Library Concept Video http://www.worlddigitallibrary.org/project/english/video/wdl_preview.mov