Release

UAlbany Center Receives $800,000 from National Science Foundation
Joint UAlbany and Library of Congress project will explore state and local government digital information preservation

Contact: Catherine Herman (518) 437-4980

Theresa Pardo

ALBANY, N.Y. (March 14, 2005) --The University at Albany's Center for Technology in Government (CTG) has received an $800,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to work with the U.S. Library of Congress to develop strategies for states and territories to preserve state government digital information.

"One of the results of the past generation's shift from paper to electronic work is that the public record is more often found in a digital form, and is no longer stored in the file cabinets of traditional government offices," said CTG Deputy Director Theresa Pardo, the lead CTG researcher on the project. "We are working with the Library of Congress in this project to develop preservation programs that keep pace with government's creation and use of electronic information."

State and local governments now create vast amounts of information solely in digital form. For example, land and property data, school records, official publications, and court records are stored in and made available through web sites, data bases, and geospatial information systems. In many cases this information has permanent legal or cultural value, yet the information is at risk of loss due to government’s lack of awareness and inability to deal with such digital information hazards as fragile media and technological obsolescence. Preserving this digital information has become a major challenge and a top priority for the Library of Congress.

The Library’s current National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP) operates through collaborative partnerships with public and private institutions aimed at building a national preservation network. CTG's work with the Library is part of NDIIPP and will focus on helping U.S. states and territories form collaborative arrangements and develop strategies for preserving significant state and local government information in digital form. For Library of Congress information on this project, see http://www.DigitalPreservation.gov.

Within this project, CTG will be working with the Library to develop and deploy a toolkit to support state government digital information preservation initiatives. The toolkit will enable state teams to systemically assess current digital preservation capabilities, identify targets for enhancing preservation capability, and develop action plans for preserving specific digital content. All 50 states and territories will be invited to participate.

The Center for Technology in Government is an applied research center devoted to improving government and public services through policy, management, and technology innovation. The Center, located at the University at Albany, works with government to develop well-informed information strategies that foster innovation and enhances the quality and coordination of public services.

The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world. Through its National Digital Library (NDL) Program, it is also one of the leading providers of noncommercial intellectual content on the Internet. The NDL Program’s flagship American Memory project, in collaboration with other institutions nationwide, makes freely available more than 8.5 million American historical items.