Friday, July 03, 2015

Australian electronic books to be preserved at the National Library in Canberra under new laws

Australian electronic books to be preserved at the National Library in Canberra under new laws. Clarissa Thorp. ABC. 3 July 2015.
Starting in January of next year digital materials including e-books, blogs, prominent websites, and  important social media messages will be collected as a snapshot of Australian life. Under existing copyright laws, the National Library of Australia is able to collect all books produced by local publishers through the legal deposit system. Now with new legislation adopted by the Federal Parliament the Library will be able to preserve published items from the internet that could disappear from view in future. "This legislation puts us in a position where we are able to ask publishers to deposit electronic material with the National Library in a comprehensive way." "So we will be able to open that up and collect the whole of the Australian domain, for websites for example it means we are able to collect e-books that are only published in digital form." This new legislation will expand the Library's digital preservation program and ensure that future collections reflect Australian society as a whole.

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