Network of expertise in long-term preservation of digital resources is exchanging data with the Australian PADI subject gateway

Bilingual search for long-term preservation resources available free of charge

Access to German and international sources of information

The “nestor” network of expertise in long-term preservation of digital resources has just put into practice an agreement made in April 2005 between the Australian colleagues working on the PADI (Preserving Access to Digital information) portal at the National Library of Australia and the nestor partner, Goettingen State and University Library (SUB). Searches for relevant information resources in the nestor information database (www.digitalpreservation.de / Subject Gateway) can now be extended, if desired, to include searches in the extensive PADI data set. In return, the Australian partners plan to integrate the nestor records into their service.

A facility for immediate switching between the “nestor” database and a combination of “PADI & nestor” is now available in the nestor information database, which can be accessed free of charge. At present there are 2034 records on topics such as long-term preservation in general, rights management, formats and media types, national activities, digitisation and management.

For each record in the database there is a summary complete with detailed bibliographic information, and the corresponding original document is available as a PDF or HTML file via direct links from the nestor website. An additional convenient feature is the ability to switch between German and English in advanced search mode. The nestor records are held bilingually (German-English) and the PADI records are available in English only. There is, however, a facility to at least display PADI topics and document types in German.

PADI: experience with long-term preservation of digital resources since 1997

The PADI subject gateway on all aspects of long-term preservation of digital resources (www.nla.gov.au/padi) has been maintained at the National Library of Australia since 1997 and provides comprehensive pointers to international sources of information on digital preservation. Furthermore, PADI promotes cooperation with other projects and institutions, as well as with colleagues outside Australia working on long-term preservation of digital objects. In the same way as PADI, the nestor information database provides a comprehensive service for the German-speaking countries.

Each of these information services identifies, selects, categorises, describes, and provides references and/or internet links to publications, projects and other information sources on the long-term preservation of digital objects. International discussion and research are thus promoted, and users are supported in their efforts to address issues of digital preservation in their institutions or to carry out appropriate research. PADI and nestor intend to establish a regular exchange of metadata including all changes and updates. In this way, redundant duplication of work can be avoided, users can be offered a correspondingly broader range of information and the experience of regional and/or national communities can be disseminated more widely.

“Not only will the services benefit from the exchange of metadata between nestor and PADI, but also users, for whom easier access to the information in both subject gateways will be made possible. This metadata exchange will extend the coverage of each of the databases and will avoid duplication of work in the selection and description of relevant resources,” states nestor project director, Hans Liegmann (Die Deutsche Bibliothek).
“nestor – network of expertise in long-term preservation of digital resources” is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) from 2003 to 2006. “nestor” partners are the Deutsche Bibliothek, Goettingen State and University Library, the computer and media service and university library at the Humboldt University, Berlin, the Bavarian State Library, the directorate-general of the Bavarian State Archives, the Institute for Museum Research of the State Museums of Berlin/Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and the Bundesarchiv.

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