The National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP) of the United States was an archival program led by the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
to preserve and provide access to
digital resources. The program convened several working groups, administered grant projects, and disseminated information about digital preservation issues. The
U.S. Congress
The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...
appropriated funds to establish the program in 2000, and official activity specific to NDIIPP itself wound down between 2016 and 2018. The Library of Congress was chosen to lead the initiative because of its role as one of the leading providers of high-quality content on the Internet. The Library of Congress formed a national network of partners dedicated to preserving specific types of digital content that is at risk of loss.
In July 2010, the Library of Congress launched the National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA) to extend the work of NDIIPP to more partner institutions. The organization, which has been hosted by the
Digital Library Federation
The Digital Library Federation (DLF) is a program of the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) that brings together a consortium of college and university libraries, public libraries, museums, and related institutions with the stated ...
since January 2016, focuses on several goals. It develops improved preservation standards and practices, works with experts to identify categories of digital information that are most worthy of preservation, and takes steps to incorporate content into a national collection. It provides national leadership for digital preservation education and training. NDSA also provides communication and outreach for all aspects of digital preservation. The NDSA membership includes universities, professional associations, commercial businesses, consortia, and government agencies.
Overview
The
preservation of digital content has become a major challenge for
libraries
A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...
and
archive
An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located.
Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organ ...
s whose mission is to preserve the intellectual and cultural heritage of the nation in the
digital age
The Information Age is a History by period, historical period that began in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by a rapid shift from traditional industries, as established during the Industrial Revolution, to an economy centered on info ...
. In 1996, a federal task force on the archiving of digital information recommended that a national digital archival system should be implemented to preserve and provide access to digital cultural heritage information. From this report, Congress appropriated funds in the 2000 budget to create the beginnings of the NDIIPP.
The Librarian of Congress
James H. Billington commissioned the National Research Council Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...
to evaluate the Library's readiness to meet the challenges of the rapidly evolving digital world. This oversight group was headed by the Associate Librarian for Strategic Initiatives, the Associate Librarian for Library Services, and the Register of Copyrights. This group held several planning meetings to assess the current state of digital archiving and preservation. They recommended that the Library, working with other federal and non-federal institutions, take the lead in a national, cooperative effort to archive and preserve digital information.
The U.S. Congress has asked the Library of Congress to lead a collaborative project, called the National Digital
Information Infrastructure
An information infrastructure is defined by Ole Hanseth (2002) as "a shared, evolving, open, standardized, and heterogeneous installed base" and by Pironti (2006) as all of the people, processes, procedures, tools, facilities, and technology whic ...
and Preservation Program. In December 2000, Congress passed special legislation (Public Law 106-554) in recognition of the importance of preserving digital content for future generations, appropriating $100 million to the Library of Congress to lead this effort.
($75 million of which was slated for dollar for dollar cost matching) for the effort. Congress rescinded $47 million in unspent funds in 2007. In 2009, NDIIPP received about $6.5 million as a line item in the Library's annual budget appropriation.
This effort falls within the Library Services mission, which includes providing access to and preserving information for the benefit of the United States and the World. This mission extends to materials in electronic formats as well. In addition, the Library is the home of the
U.S. Copyright Office and is thus already engaged in issues relating to copyright in a digital environment.
Participating organizations
The National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program is a cooperative effort.
The Library works closely with partners to assess considerations for shared responsibilities. Federal legislation calls for the Library to work jointly with the
Secretary of Commerce
The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...
, the director of the White House
Office of Science and Technology Policy
The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is a department of the United States government, part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, Executive Office of the President (EOP), established by United States Congres ...
, and the
National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...
. The legislation also directs the Library to seek the participation of "other federal, research and private libraries and institutions with expertise in the collection and maintenance of archives of digital materials," including the
National Library of Medicine
The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library.
Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is an institute within the National Institutes of Health. I ...
, the
National Agricultural Library
The United States National Agricultural Library (NAL) is one of the world's largest agricultural research libraries, and serves as a national library of the United States and as the library of the United States Department of Agriculture. Locate ...
, the
Research Libraries Group
The Research Libraries Group (RLG) was a U.S.-based library consortium that existed from 1974 until its merger with the OCLC library consortium in 2006. RLG developed the Eureka interlibrary search engine, the RedLightGreen database of bibliogr ...
, the
Online Computer Library Center
OCLC, Inc. See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was founded in 1967 as the ...
,
U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), the
Smithsonian, the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
, and the
Council on Library and Information Resources
The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) is an American independent, nonprofit organization. It works with libraries, cultural institutions, and higher learning communities on developing strategies to improve research, teaching, an ...
.
The Library also works with the non-federal sector. The overall strategy is being executed in cooperation with the library, creative, publishing, technology, and copyright communities. In early 2001, the Library established a National Digital Strategy Advisory Board to help guide it through the planning process. This board is made up of experts from the technology, publishing, Internet, library, and intellectual-property communities, as well as government.
The Library has also established a working group to look at ways that current copyright law can address how libraries and archives handle digital materials when preserving them and making them available to users.
Digital preservation partnership projects

The Library of Congress announced a call for proposals to begin the national digital archival network in 2003. It was their goal to choose partnership programs that collaborate across institutions to collect, preserve, and build best practices for the archival of at-risk digital content. After a process of peer-review by the
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
, eight project proposals were chosen. The original eight partnerships included:
* Development of digital archival infrastructure to preserve collections of web-based materials focusing on local political movements led by the California Digital Library at the University of California, partnering with
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
,
University of North Texas
The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...
, and other library collaborators.
* Creation of the
National Geospatial Digital Archive, a national network dedicated to archiving geospatial imagery and data led by the
University of California at Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joine ...
, partnering with
Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
.
* Develop national standards for the archival of public television programs, led by Educational Broadcasting Company (Thirteen/WNET New York), in partnership with
WGBH Educational Foundation
The WGBH Educational Foundation, doing business as GBH since August 2020, is an American public broadcasting group based in Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1951, it holds the licenses to all of the PBS member stations in Massachusetts, a ...
,
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), and New York University.
* Preserve Southern culture and history through the development of a MetaArchive of Southern Digital Culture, led by
Emory University
Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...
in partnership with University of Louisville Libraries,
Virginia Polytechnic Institute
The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...
and State University Libraries,
Florida State University
Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...
Libraries,
Auburn University
Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...
Libraries,
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...
Library and Information Center.
* Development of software and digital repository architectures and the creation of ways to test digital library infrastructure, led by the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...
Library, in partnership with
Online Computer Library Center (OCLC),
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...
,
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
, and the state libraries from Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.
* An archive of online “business culture” and early Internet venture creation at www.dotcomarchive.org and www.businessplanarchive.org, led by the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
Robert H. Smith School of Business, in partnership with the Center for History and New Media at
George Mason University
George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...
, and the
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
.
* Creation of a political and social science survey archive, led by the University of Michigan, in partnership with the
University of Connecticut
The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...
,
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, the
Harvard-MIT Data Center, and the
National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...
.
* Collect and preserve geospatial data resources using the digitized maps from North Carolina government agencies, creating a guide for other states to make similar archives. Led by
North Carolina State University Libraries in partnership with the North Carolina Center for Geographic Information and Analysis.
Since the inaugural eight projects were launched, the NDIIPP has collaborated with over 300 partners (as of March 2013). There are eight consortial partnerships comprising 33 institutions that are selecting, collecting, and preserving specific types of digital content:
Data-PASSDot Com ArchiveECHO DEPository*
International Internet Preservation Consortium
*
MetaArchive Cooperative
*
National Geospatial Digital Archive
North Carolina Geospatial Data Archiving ProjectWeb at Risk
National significance
With the rapid growth of the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
and the
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW or simply the Web) is an information system that enables Content (media), content sharing over the Internet through user-friendly ways meant to appeal to users beyond Information technology, IT specialists and hobbyis ...
, digital has become the principal medium to create, distribute, and store content, from text to motion pictures to recorded sound. Digital content now embodies much of the nation's intellectual, social, and cultural history. Because digital materials can be so easily altered, corrupted, or lost, these materials must be saved now if they are to remain available to today's and tomorrow's generations.
NDIIPP provided a national focus on important policy, standards, and technical components necessary to preserve digital content. Investments in modeling and testing various options and technical solutions took place over several years, resulting in recommendations to the U.S. Congress about the most viable and sustainable options for long-term preservation, copyright law in the context of digital preservation, and other issues.
In 2008, NDIIPP was the United States author for a four-nation recommendation (United States, Australia, United Kingdom, and the Netherlands) to establish laws to support digital preservation, particularly for materials at risk of being lost. That report summarized the state of digital preservation in each country at the time and highlighted relevant existing law for each country.
NDIIPP kickstarted the Library's efforts to advice individuals on personal digital archiving. This resulted in a
e-bookon the topic and the seeds of the current Library of Congress website o
Personal Digital Archiving
NDIIPP managed the Congressional appropriation to kick-start many important digital preservation endeavors, some in the Digital preservation partnership projects section. Two others of note were issues that had some prior development but were realized fully with the assistance of NDIIPP funding.
The first technology was
LOCKSS
The LOCKSS ("Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe") project, under the auspices of Stanford University, is a peer-to-peer network that develops and supports an open source system allowing libraries to collect, preserve and provide their readers with ac ...
, a tool for digital preservation of scholarly articles and other digital formats. The second was a pilot project for archiving digital content from the
WNET
WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as Thirteen (stylized as THIRTEEN), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the Educ ...
Public Broadcasting station, th
Preserving Digital Public Television Project That project evolved into today's
American Archive of Public Broadcasting.
In keeping with the mission of the NDIIPP, they are working with over 1,400 collections globally to preserve institution's at-risk digital content. The collection's content ranges from Arts and Culture, Religion and Philosophy, Social Sciences, and World History and Cultures.
The Library of Congress provides a ful
list of the collectionsas well as
of the collections' geographical location.
References
External links
The Library of Congress, Web ArchivingNational Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation ProgramNDIIPP on iTunes UNDIIPP on YoutubeNDSA: National Digital Stewardship Alliance now hosted by the
Council on Library and Information Resources
The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) is an American independent, nonprofit organization. It works with libraries, cultural institutions, and higher learning communities on developing strategies to improve research, teaching, an ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Digital Information Infrastructure And Preservation Program
Archival science
Digital Library project
Digital preservation
Web archiving initiatives
American digital libraries
Conservation and restoration organizations