National Library of Australia - Gateways

ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 60 | December 2002


The New-Look PADI
The National Library of Australia's Subject Gateway

PADI, the international subject gateway to resources about digital preservation provided by the National Library, has recently undergone some exciting redevelopment. In March 2002 the PADI home page <www.nla.gov.au/padi/> was redesigned to enable new features to be added, including a new topic, ‘Digital Preservation Management’, an area for working groups to publish papers and with the ability to acknowledge our sponsors and partners.

What is PADI?

PADI is a subject gateway about Preserving Access to Digital Information and has been developed and maintained by the NLA since 1997. The web site identifies the current issues being addressed, the principal groups involved, and the main directions being explored in digital preservation. The site provides access to information about a range of projects, helping to prevent individual programs from being isolated and falling behind on new developments that occur in this rapidly changing field.

PADI includes news, conference information, links to policies developed by institutions managing digital materials, articles, project and case study reports, and provides an online discussion list, padiforum-l. Links to glossaries, bibliographies, journals and newsletters about preserving access to digital information are also available.

Features of the New-Look PADI

Partners

The new PADI design helps us to acknowledge our partners and sponsors directly on the home page. The Partners page <www.nla.gov.au/padi/partners.html> explains how organisations and individuals help support PADI as a global initiative.

The NLA and the DPC (Digital Preservation Coalition) <www.dpconline.org/> now have a Memorandum of Understanding to work collaboratively on digital preservation activities. CLIR (Council on Library and Information Resources) <www.clir.org/> currently provides financial support for PADI’s Safekeeping project <www.nla.gov.au/padi/safekeeping/safekeeping.html>. The Safekeeping project aims to establish a ‘library’ of significant digital preservation resources which will be accessible in the long term.

PADI also receives support from an international advisory group which provides advice and guidance on PADI initiatives. Reviewers are acknowledged for the work they undertake in ensuring PADI topics are up-to-date and the resources listed are relevant.

Digital Preservation Management—New Topic

The home page features a link to the new ‘Digital Preservation Management’ topic page. This page lists resources which describe the management activities necessary for ensuring the long-term retention and continued accessibility of digital materials.

PADI Technical Notes

The technical notes which describe the PADI system have been updated recently and are available online at <www.nla.gov.au/padi/technical.html>.

Quarterly Digest

The Quarterly Digest, produced with assistance from the UK Digital Preservation Coalition, now has a link directly from the PADI home page. The digest aims to summarise developments in the digital preservation field over a three-month period and is a handy tool which keeps you up-to-date. The Digest lists details of recent events with relevant papers cited, and discusses developments in digital preservation projects around the world.

Working Groups

Working groups dealing with issues in digital preservation are now able to use a new area of PADI to help publicise their work and keep in touch with working group members. The ‘Working Groups’ link is only available from the PADI home page. Please contact us at: padi@nla.gov.au if you are interested in using this area of PADI.
—Jennifer Anderson

The National Library invites all those with an interest in ensuring continuing access to digital information to visit and use the PADI site.

To obtain further information or provide feedback about PADI, please contact
Jennifer Anderson,
the Administrator, at: padi@nla.gov.au.

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