Born Digital 2016

3 August 2016 for immediate release

Born Digital 2016: National Library of New Zealand celebrates inaugural digital preservation week

The National Library of New Zealand together with libraries across Australia will celebrate the inaugural digital preservation week, Born Digital 2016, from August 8 – 12. Born Digital 2016 aims to raise awareness of the importance of preserving digital content for the public good and as a record of New Zealand’s and Australia’s history in digital form.

During this week the National and State Libraries of Australasia, including the National Library of New Zealand, will hold events and online activities that explore questions about collecting and preserving digital content and examine the technical, social and philosophical questions of our digital lives.

Throughout the week each library will publish the Born Digital series of online interviews with experts in a range of disciplines from astronomy to gaming, as they discuss the profound importance of digital preservation to their work.

Sarah Slade from State Library Victoria is coordinating the week across Australasia and says that since the emergence of the Internet in its current form the volume of digitally created material has expanded exponentially and replaced a huge number and variety of physical records. “We have more information today than at any other point in history but it is more fragile than we imagine. There are 1000-year-old books that can still be easily read but how many of your 25-year-old floppy discs can you still use?”

“Libraries take this very seriously and are working hard to ensure this information doesn’t disappear, but it is as much a social issue as an institutional one – everyone must think about their information and what they are doing to make sure it isn’t lost.”

Bill Macnaught, National Librarian at NLNZ, is looking forward to sharing with New Zealanders how the National Library is working to preserve our nation’s digital taonga. “At the National Library our job and our passion is to look after the memory of our nation. Increasingly that memory is encapsulated in a digital world – items such as cartoons, digital recordings, even photographs taken with cell phones are pieces of our collective culture. And they were all born digital – that is to say that they were not created in a physical format, and may never exist outside of that digital realm. Our challenge is preserving these precious items so that future generations can access these memories.”

The libraries, including the National Library of New Zealand, will hold a series of talks based on four themes – science and space, indigenous voices, digital lifestyles and play – throughout the week (series details below). One Born Digital interview video will be released each day over Digital Preservation Week and posted online at http://natlib.govt.nz/collections/digital-preservation. The National Library of New Zealand will also be screening a series of films at 6pm in the evening which are connected to the daytime events.

Monday 8 August
12.15 – 1.30pm
Vodcast: Science and space with Dr Alan Duffy.
Discussion leader Veronica Meduna – Science Writer

Dr Alan Duffy is an astronomer and science expert at the Centre for Astrophysics and Computing at Swinburne University, Melbourne.

6pm Evening film: 2001: A Space Odyssey

Tuesday 9 August
12.15 – 1.30pm
Vodcast: Indigenous voices with Dr Rachael Ka’ai-Mahuta
Discussion leader Dr Rachael Ka’ai-Mahuta – Senior Researcher, Te Ipukarea

Dr Rachael Ka’ai-Mahuta is Senior Lecturer, Associate Director: Te Whare o Rongomaurikura – The International Centre for Language Revitalisation at the Auckland University of Technology.
6pm Evening film: Ngati – presented in conjunction with Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Thursday 11 August
12.15 – 1.30pm
Vodcast: Digital lifestyles with Dr Rebecca Huntley
Discussion leader Dr Chris McDowall – Geographer and data enthusiast

Dr Rebecca Huntley is a social researcher and writer with degrees in law and film studies and a PhD in Gender Studies. She is currently Senior Editor & Director of Insights & Research at Mama Mia Women's Network.

6pm Evening film: Metropolis

Friday 12 August
12.15 – 1.30pm
Vodcast: Play with Bajo and Hex
Discussion leader Dr Chris McDowall – Geographer and data enthusiast

Bajo (Steven O'Donnell) and Hex (Stephanie Bendixsen) are Australia’s best known video game critics, writing and presenting ABC TV’s Good Game and its companion shows, Good Game Spawn Point and Good Game: Pocket Edition.

6pm Evening film: WALL–E

ends

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