Digital legal deposit: International cooperation

Web Archiving constitutes a new area for the development of international cooperation.

The International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC) was formed in 2003, in acknowledgement of the importance of collaboration on an international scale for preserving internet content for future generations. Launched by ten national libraries (including the BnF) and Internet Archive, the consortium has progressively increased in size. There are at present 38 members: national and university libraries, national archives, private companies and not-for-profit foundations, located in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australasia.
The mission of the Consortium is to acquire, preserve and make accessible knowledge and information from the Internet everywhere in the world, and to promote global exchange and international relations between its members.

Goals of the Consortium

to enable the collection and preservation of and long-term access to a rich body of Internet content from around the world;
to foster the development and use of common tools, techniques and standards for the creation of international archives;
to be a strong international advocate for initiatives and legislation that encourage the collection and preservation of and access to Internet content;
to encourage and support libraries, archives, museums and cultural heritage institutions around the world in addressing the collection and preservation of Internet content.

Governance

The Presidency of IIPC has been successively held by France, Iceland, Canada, Singapore and Great-Britain. A steering committee is responsible for defining and putting into action the strategy of the IIPC while its working groups (harvesting, access, preservation) are composed of international experts who elaborate tools, standards and best practice. Currently, the BnF manages the accounts of the Consortium, Internet Archive ensures the technical management and the Library of Congress is responsible for communication. The first general conference of the IIPC was held in Paris in 2007. Subsequent conferences have been held in Canberra, Ottawa, Singapore and The Hague.

Thursday, January 19, 2012