virtually a librarian

In Australia, and elsewhere in the world, legal deposit laws have failed to keep pace with the rapid evolution of technology. Our national repositories therefore have no legislative mandate to assist them in their efforts to preserve the growing abundance of born digital published materials.

Without legal deposit provisions for digital and AV materials, those institutions that are tasked with preserving an archive of Australia’s history and culture are limited in their ability to do so comprehensively. Legal deposit libraries must receive a copy of each print publication published in their jurisdiction, but there is no legal requirement for publishers of audiovisual or digital material (either hard copy or online) to deposit publications with any repository. What this means is that those repositories (like, for example, the National Library of Australia) who had the foresight to recognise the need to collect born digital material have been required to seek permission from publishers to archive websites, to purchase hard copy digital materials for the national collections, or to rely on voluntary deposit.

A discussion paper, designed to “invite comment on the feasibility of extending the current legal deposit scheme to include audiovisual and electronic material” is now available on the Attorney General’s website, and indeed, has been for some months. Somehow this didn’t hit my radar until quite recently, although the paper has been out since October.

This is an issue of significant national importance. The ALIA Government Publications Advisory Committee is compiling a submission on behalf of ALIA members. Go comment, before 3 January if you want to be part of the ALIA response, or by 11 January for independent responses. The questions posed by the review paper are interesting and challenging ones that need some fresh, creative thinking, and which deserve the attention of the Australian library community.