NSLA libraries reached a milestone this week with our National edeposit service (NED) receiving its 100,000th deposit.
NED went live on 30 May 2019 and was formally launched in August last year. The service collects and preserves Australian electronic legal deposit publications, ensuring that we keep a strong record of Australia’s digital documentary heritage for access now and in the future. It simplifies the legal deposit process for publishers and is 100% online. Fortunately, given our current circumstances, this means that NED is completely serviceable by staff and publishers working remotely.
Nearly one year on, it’s wonderful to see the variety of Australian published material being deposited by publishers across the country. Our 100,000th item was the Blue Mountains Gazette (pictured), published in New South Wales by Australian Community Media (ACM). The cover is a tribute to these times and will be preserved, along with the entire NED corpus, in perpetuity.
ACM Editorial Director Rod Quinn said ACM is proud to participate in the National edeposit scheme.
“Our publications are the trusted voice of regional Australia. They chronicle life in cities and towns in every state and territory. They celebrate the successes, they mourn the tragedies, they highlight injustice and inequity and they campaign on issues that can deliver a better future for all.
“Journalism has been described as the ‘first rough draft of history’. It is heartening to know that digital editions of the publications that occupy such a special place in the hearts of our regional communities will be preserved for decades to come. They will be an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to understand regional Australia. Whether it is in future decades or even future centuries, that ‘first rough draft’ will endure.”
Congratulations to the many staff in our national, state and territory libraries who work to keep NED running every day. Our thanks to the more than 9000 publishers registered and depositing publications with NED. Here’s to collecting, appreciating and building on Australia’s rich digital documentary heritage for many years to come.
For more information on NED, see ned.gov.au.
