Preservation and Digitisation Processes in Australian Public Libraries

Speaker: Saraj Mughal

Affiliation: University of Western Sydney

Time: Monday 23/05/2011 from 14:30 to 15:00

Venue: Access Grid UWS. Presented from Parramatta (EB.1.32), accessible from Campbelltown (26.1.50) and Penrith (Y239).

Abstract: Public libraries of Australia hold collection items of various kinds such as books, pictures, maps, newspapers, microfilm and coins. With ICT and digital technology becoming more common these days, there is an increasing demand from the clients of library services to make them available online for access from anywhere, anytime and from a variety of ICT devices. In response to their clients’ needs, most of the public libraries have commenced various digitisation programs/initiatives to digitise their collections. As more and more collections in the public libraries is being digitised, new challenges for the preservation of digitised collections are emerging. The specific objectives of this research are: 1) to study existing and emerging storage and digitisation technologies and how changes in technology over time can impact on the long term preservation/storage of digitised material; 2) to explore gaps and limitations in the existing digitisation/preservation practices and approaches and 3) to formulate best practices and strategies for the long term preservation of digitised collection in the Australian public libraries.

Biography: Saraj Mughal is working with the State Library of NSW as Manager, ICT Services (Digital Library Services). As part-time student - MSc (Hons) - with the School of Computing and Mathematics, he is conducting research in the area of the long term preservation of digitised collections in the public libraries. The core focus of this study is to research, identify and analyse gaps and weaknesses with the existing digital strategies, approaches, practices and then formulating a common strategy that can be adopted across all Australian public libraries to preserve their digital collections.