Laboratory's Research Library receives Library of Congress grant | The Newsbulletin

Martha Anderson, left, of the Library of Congress, Steve Griffin of the National Science Foundation, Clay Shirky, center, of the Library of Congress, Herbert Van de Sompel of the Research Library (STB-RL) and Babak Hamidzadeh of the Library of Congress talk during a recent visit to Los Alamos. The Research Library received a $750,000 grant from the Library of Congress. Photo by Michelle Mirabal, STB-RL

Laboratory's Research Library receives Library of Congress grant

The Laboratory's Research Library recently was awarded a $750,000 grant from the Library of Congress. The grant will be used to support research and development of tools that will help address complex problems related to collecting, storing and accessing digital materials.

"This grant is a significant recognition of the ongoing efforts of [Los Alamos'] Research Library to design, implement and operate a digital library repository capable of ingesting and storing the ever growing collection of digital scholarly assets," said Herbert Van de Sompel, principal investigator for the project and team leader of Los Alamos' Digital Library Research and Prototyping team. The Research Library is part of Los Alamos' Science and Technology Base (STB) Programs Office.

"Research papers that detail the design of our repository work attracted the interest of the Library of Congress. The modular and fully standards-based design suggested applicability beyond Los Alamos' Research Library. The Library of Congress funding will further focus our research and help us to explore the path of using our approach beyond [the Laboratory]," said Van de Sompel.

The federal grant is awarded through the Library of Congress' National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program. This is a congressionally approved plan to develop a national strategy, in collaboration with other entities, for policies, protocols and strategies for the long-term preservation of digital materials.

"The National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program is pleased to be working with the Los Alamos National Laboratory on a project that is so critical to the preservation of our nation's history," said Laura E. Campbell, associate librarian for strategic initiatives of the Library of Congress. "Los Alamos is a world leader in developing cutting-edge technologies in a rapidly changing environment. We anticipate that this collaboration will move the national digital preservation project closer to achieving its goals."

The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world. Through its National Digital Library (NDL) Program, it also is one of the leading providers of noncommercial intellectual content on the Internet (www.loc.gov). The NDL Program's flagship American Memory project, in collaboration with other institutions nationwide, makes freely available more than 9 million American historical items.

In December 2000, Congress authorized the Library of Congress to develop and execute a congressionally approved plan for a National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program. A $99.8 million congressional appropriation was made to establish the program. The goal is to build a network throughout the country of committed partners working through a digital library preservation architecture with defined roles and responsibilities.

The complete text of the "Plan for the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program" is available at www.digitalpreservation.gov online. It includes an explanation of how the plan was developed, who the Library of Congress worked with to develop the plan and the key components of the digital preservation infrastructure. Congress approved the plan in December 2002.