Late last year, Congress provided a $100-million special appropriation to the Library of Congress to develop a national program to preserve digital information for current and future generations.
The legislation appropriates $25 million for LC to develop the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program in collaboration with other federal agencies, as well as private libraries and institutions with expertise in the collection and maintenance of digital archives. It requires up to $75 million of the funding be matched by nonfederal donations. In the initial phase, $5 million may be spent for planning and for the acquisition and preservation of digital information that may otherwise vanish.
Congress acted in response to a National Academy of Sciences report calling for LC to take the lead in developing a national effort to archive and preserve digital information.
“Just as the Congress enabled the Library of Congress to begin the last century by making its printed catalog cards widely available, the Congress has enabled its library to begin this century by building a digital record and making it available in the information age,” noted Librarian of Congress James Billington.
Posted January 22, 2001.