Activity still continues on the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIP). There were two stories in Washington DC newspapers in recent weeks. The more interesting of the two came from the May 16th Washington Post in a column by Jim Barksdale and Francine Berman called Saving our Digital Heritage. Barksdale — of Netscape Corp. fame and now a member of the NDIIP advisory council — and Berman make a brief but impassioned plea for restoring the NDIIP funding that was rescinded earlier this year. (The other article, in the Washington Times, (“Saving the digital record”, 25-Apr-2007, article no longer available online) oddly praises the program but makes no mention of the funding rescission.) And I heard today from an “Unnamed Washington Source” that the leadership at the Library of Congress will seek to have some, if not all, of the funding restored as part of a future continuing resolution. (Hopefully one that won’t get vetoed.)

At the same time, the Library of Congress is planning several NDIIP-related programs at the American Library Association annual meeting next month. One hopes that all of this buzz will encourage Congress to restore funding support for the program.

Update (20070525T2015): It would appear that the bill passed by both houses of Congress (version #6) did not include language to put back funding for NDIIIP. Or, at least I don’t see mention of it — it is a big bill.

Update (200804042140): Removed the link to the Washington Times article — it is no longer available online.

The text was modified to remove a link to http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/news/news0407.html on January 20th, 2011.

Early last month I mentioned what was happening to NDIIP funds with the impending passage of what became Public Law 110-5 [PDF] and posted a copy of a letter I sent to my senators urging them to reconsider the funding rescission. Of course, I wasn’t the only one who asked congress to reconsider. Strangely (I thought) the Library of Congress has been silent on the topic. Silent until last week, that is.

On March 20th, Dr. James H. Billington, the Librarian of Congress, was in front of the House Subcommittee on Legislative Branch for a hearing titled “Future of Digital Libraries”. At the hearing, he made a well-reasoned, thorough argument for the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP). You can read his comments yourself, but here is what I thought was the high point:

When Congress created NDIIPP in 2000, it appropriated $100 million in no-year funds to sustain this enormous effort in a decade-long program. In order to complete funding for other critical priorities in FY2007, NDIIPP’s unobligated funds were tapped. Prior to the rescission, we were on the verge of making our next set of investments for the work of our current partners, as well as reaching out to new communities. At risk is not only the work of partners across the nation but essential infrastructure and content for the Library’s mission to serve Congress. The fuller extent of the lost investment as a result of the rescission is $84 million — $47 million in direct funding plus $37 million in matching funds already committed to the pending investments.

So, it would seem, NDIIP is hurting but not completely out to pasture yet. Keep your eyes and ears open for ways we can help get the funding restored so the work can continue.

(By the way, at the same hearing there was an update and a future look at Copyright by Marybeth Peters, the Register of Copyrights.)

The text was modified to update a link from http://www.loc.gov/about/welcome/speeches/digital/digitalage.html to http://www.loc.gov/about/librarianoffice/speeches/032007.html on January 19th, 2011.

The Honorable George V. Voinovich
524 Hart Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator:

I am writing to you in regards to House Joint Resolution 20, the Continuing Appropriations resolution FY2007, and in particular section 20703(D)(3)(a) which rescinds the unobligated balances available for the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP). As a practicing librarian and technologist, I can appreciate the focus the NDIIPP brings to the difficult work of preserving our nation’s heritage — a heritage that is increasingly reliant on digital media.

Digital media has become the principal mechanism to create, store and distribute information, from text to motion pictures to recorded sound. These digital forms increasingly embody much of our nation’s intellectual, social and cultural history. Unlike paper, film, and phonograph records, though, preserving information on digital media requires new and proactive steps to ensure access by future generations. The NDIIPP provides a national focus on important policy, standards and technical components necessary to preserve digital content. I look to the NDIIPP for guidance on the stewardship of State of Ohio resources under my care as part of the OhioLINK higher education library program.

With H. J. Res. 20 under active consideration this week, I urge you to propose an amendment to restore funding to the NDIIPP program. The relatively small amount of funding sustains the progress to date on the important issue of digital content preservation and provide invaluable guidance to librarians, archivists, and museum curators in our mission to preserve the country’s digital heritage.

Sincerely,

/Peter E. Murray/

In a federal fiscal year that began without nine of the 11 appropriations bills passed, there is legislation pending in the Senate that would ax funding for the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program for the remainder of the fiscal year. Given the current political tone in Washington, one can only guess that someone thought the NDIIPP was part of an earmark. Either that or someone with a bee in their bonnet for the NDIIP is using this moment in time to exact revenge on the program. Either way, this is one moment in time that I’m spurred to join the national debate on legislation before our Congress. (Looking at the site statistics for DLTJ.org I know a number of readers are outside the United States. I hope you’ll indulge me or a moment.)

The source of the issue is House Joint Resolution 20, Continuing Appropriations resolution FY2007. It has been ages since I’ve done a legislative history (I hope Virginia Wise, my Simmons MSLIS instructor and lecturer at the Harvard Law Library, will be proud) but the Library of Congress’ THOMAS service is a good guide to what is happening (is that irony I hear?). At I post this, the resolution has been passed by the House and is on the floor of the Senate. And there isn’t much time to influence the outcome — according to the Senate Calendar:

Ordered, That with respect to H.J. Res 20, an Act making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2007, and for other purposes, Senators have until 2:30 p.m. on Monday, February 12, 2007 to file first degree amendments.

In addition, a cloture motion has been filed that will likely limit the possibility of a filibuster on this bill. (And for good reason, too — the existing continuing resolution that is funding most of the U.S. federal government at the same funding levels as last year runs out on Thursday).

Relevant text of H. J. Res. 20

It isn’t possible with the THOMAS website to link to a section of a bill, so the best I can do is provide this link to the table of contents of H. J. Res. 20 and ask you to follow the link to Chapter 7 of the bill and then scroll about halfway down the page. Here is the text of the relevant part:

TITLE II–ELIMINATION OF EARMARKS, ADJUSTMENTS IN FUNDING, AND OTHER PROVISIONS
CHAPTER 7–LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
Sec. 20703.
Subsection D
(3) Of the unobligated balances available under the heading `Library of Congress, Salaries and Expenses’, the following amounts are rescinded:

(A) Of the unobligated balances available for the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program, $47,000,000.

(B) Of the unobligated balances available for furniture and furnishings, $695,394.

(C) Of the unobligated balances available for the acquisition and partial support for implementation of an Integrated Library System, $1,853,611.

As Karen Schneider noted, this would appear to effectively zero out the NDIIPP for the remainder of the year.

Contacting your Congressperson

There may be little that can be done (with the focus now on the President’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year) and little time in which to attempt it (given that it seems like amendments must be proposed by 2:30pm EST Monday), but for myself I feel it is worth a shot. If you are stirred to action as well, I encourage you to contact your Senators immediately. I intend to do so via e-mail or web form, and will post the text of my letter to this blog as well. If you should choose to contact your elected officials, take some time to look at various bits of advice on how to go about doing it.

The text was modified to remove a link to http://frwebgate5.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=232857171671+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve on January 19th, 2011.

The text was modified to update a link from http://freerangelibrarian.com/2007/02/your_gummint_nixes_digital_pre.php to http://freerangelibrarian.com/2007/02/10/your-gummint-nixes-digital-preservation/ on January 19th, 2011.

The text was modified to update a link from http://www.ala.org/ala/issues/toolsandpub/actionkit/legislators.htm to http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/advocacy/advocacyuniversity/toolkit/workingwithgovernmen/state_federal.cfm on January 19th, 2011.