Koninklijke Bibliotheek and IBM Nederland work on the Preservation of Digital Publications.

The Koninklijke Bibliotheek-the Netherlands' national library-and IBM Nederland are tackling the problem of the preservation of digital publications. To this end they have signed a contract to build a unique storage system. The system will be the core of the Netherlands Depot for Electronic Publications being set up by the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB) with support from the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. The system will preserve publications and ensure that they remain accessible to future generations. These are publications that are deposited with the KB by Dutch publishers as well as digital publications from other sources.

The preservation of digital publications is a major problem in the information society, and one for which there is still no real solution. The Koninklijke Bibliotheek is now initiating an important development in the preservation of digital publications, not just for the Netherlands but also at an international level. This step is as important to the library world as it is to all organizations that need to preserve electronic files and data. They include archives, museums, banks, research institutions, insurance companies and the government.

The depot system will have to function in the long term-for 100 years and more-and it must therefore be capable of evolving in terms of both the technology and its capacity. The design is based on the NASA standard for sustainable electronic archives. In recent years this has been further developed by the KB, working with other national libraries in Europe. The European national libraries have responded enthusiastically to the results achieved so far.

The Koninklijke Bibliotheek contract is a major challenge for IBM, because existing technologies are not enough - new developments will be needed. To achieve this, IBM's technological know-how and the KB's expertise will be combined in innovative research. IBM is designing the system such that it will be generally applicable. Expanding Visions will manage the project from the KB.

The Koninklijke Bibliotheek's decision to take the next step towards the preservation of digital publications with IBM Nederland has had an impact outside the Netherlands too. Simultaneously, the British Library has embarked on a comparable project with IBM and it will be working closely with the KB. The German national library has also expressed its interest in collaborating on tackling the problem of keeping digital information available and accessible for a prolonged period.

The national libraries around the world have taken an important initiative to promote the preservation of digital publications. The Committee for the Preservation of Digital Information, chaired by Wim van Drimmelen, is drawing up a Unesco statement. The committee members include representatives of the KB, the US Library of Congress and the national library of Australia.

Information about the project Depot van Nederlandse Elektronische Publicaties (DNEP) is available on the project website.