Digital Preservation Program launches research grants

Information Outlook, Sept, 2004

The National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program of the Library of Congress is partnering with the National Science Foundation to establish the first research grants program to specifically address the preservation of digital materials. NSF will administer the program, which will fund 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.

The deadline for proposals is September 14. For more information, see www.cise.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_display.cfm?pub_id=13106&div=iis .

The research program announcement coincided with the 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 joint Library of Congress and NSF workshop in 2002 that developed a research agenda in these areas. Through their leadership, 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 new digital archiving and long-term preservation research program, which expects to make approximately $2 million in initial awards using NDIIPP funds, has three main focus areas for which proposals are sought:

* Digital repository models

* Tools, technologies, and processes

* Organizational, economic, and policy issues.

Congress authorized the Library of Congress in 2000 to develop and execute a congressionally approved plan for the program with a $99.8 million appropriation. The legislation mandates that the library work with other federal entities to build a network of committed partners with defined roles and responsibilities working through a preservation architecture.