Authorized in 2000 by Congress and funded with a $100-million no-year appropriation, NDIIPP’s mission is to “capture, collect, preserve, and provide access to important ‘born-digital’ material and web-based information” over a decade-long program. But the rescission places that mission in jeopardy and threatens other initiatives already underway.
“At risk is not only the work of partners across the nation but essential infrastructure and content for the library’s mission to serve Congress,” said Billington. “The fuller extent of the lost investment as a result of the rescission is $84 million—$47 million in direct funding plus $37 million in matching funds already committed to the pending investments.” Among the in-progress initiatives are “commitments to 35 states to preserve state-based digital geospatial, legislative, and agency records” and Preserving Creative America, a program enacted to archive the creative output of all varieties of creative content, including digital film, music, and video games.
Posted on March 23, 2007.