Library solutions provider Ex Libris Group, Israel, has announced that based on its experience in the development of digital preservation systems for libraries, the Company was invited to become a member of the PrestoPrime consortium. PrestoPrime is a European Union project, funded by the Seventh Framework Program (FP7) to research and develop means of ensuring the permanence of digital audiovisual objects in archives, libraries, museums, and collections.
The goal of PrestoPrime, to be pursued over a four-year schedule, is to evaluate and prepare tools and processes for the long-term preservation of audiovisual objects, programmes, and collections, and to find ways of integrating specialised audiovisual archives into the framework of digital libraries. Programme partners include leading technology innovators from Europe.
In November 2008, version 1.0 of the Ex Libris Rosetta digital preservation system went live at the National Library of New Zealand, and the system is now in general release. Ex Libris Rosetta is a first-of-its-kind solution enabling academic, research, and national libraries to maintain the usability and integrity of their digital resources in perpetuity. The understanding that preservation and access belong together - and are not mutually exclusive entities - dictated a design in which preservation support is built directly into the platform rather than serving as an add-on feature.
