SYSTEMS
National Library of New Zealand Leverages Sun Microsystems
Relationship will also Leverage Infrastructure Expertise of Sun Microsystems and Elsevier in Managing Large-Scale Content Repositories -- The National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa and Endeavor Information Systems, one of the leading global providers of library management software, announced today a partnership to develop digital repository and preservation technologies capable of meeting the long-term digital access and archiving needs of the National Library of New Zealand, as well as other national libraries and institutions in the future. "As a strategic partner, Endeavor will assist the Library to achieve its digital vision of all New Zealanders connected with information important to all aspects of their lives," said Penny Carnaby, national librarian and chief executive of the National Library of New Zealand.
Leading up to this partnership, the National Library established the National Digital Heritage Archive (NDHA) Programme to manage the development of software that will process the ingest, storage, preservation and access of published digital material obtained through legal deposit and donated unpublished digital material. Endeavor's experience providing both software and services to national libraries, coupled with its established digital capabilities, made the company an attractive technology partner for this comprehensive project. "The National Library has built up a huge body of expertise in the digital preservation domain in the past five years and wants to contribute to and influence the product direction. By partnering with Endeavor, the Library will continue to develop that current and valuable body of knowledge," said Carnaby. "Endeavor's advanced technology framework is critical for managing the diverse collection of cultural heritage materials -- such as papers, audio recordings and art images -- currently maintained within an institution such as the National Library of New Zealand." "The National Library of New Zealand and Endeavor share the vision of a dynamic solution for guaranteed permanent access and preservation, one that is also applicable to other national libraries, universities, museums and other research organizations requiring an enterprise solution for ingesting, storing and accessing digital information," said Roland Dietz, president and CEO at Endeavor Information Systems. "We are excited about the progress of this initiative, as it serves as our response to the growing need for standardization of preservation efforts worldwide, as well as the proliferation of governmental and institutional mandates requiring the protection of national and cultural heritage artifacts, as well as scientific, technical and medical literature." Since 1994, Endeavor has pioneered library management systems by offering enhanced functionality coupled with intuitive interfaces that increase usability and efficiency. Partnering with Endeavor and the NDHA Programme will be Sun(R) Microsystems with whom both organizations have ongoing relationships. The vast majority of Endeavor's customers -- upwards of 90 percent -- run on Sun operating systems. In October 2005, Endeavor and Sun expanded their relationship by finalizing a multi-year commitment combining Endeavor's software expertise in architecting digital library management solutions with Sun's infrastructure technologies such as Solaris(TM) 10. The NDHA Programme is the first joint project to commence under this expanded agreement. Likewise, the National Library of New Zealand and Sun have partnered previously. In November 2005, Sun announced the Library as a Sun Centre of Excellence for Digital Futures in Libraries, an agreement recognizing the work of the Library and its staff at the forefront of global digital preservation endeavours. "Reflecting a growing need for technology as part of cultural and academic initiatives, libraries and universities are looking at ways to better use digital information to improve the capture, preservation and access to national archives," said Jim Hassell, managing director, Sun Microsystems Australia and New Zealand at the announcement of the Library's status as a Sun Centre of Excellence for Digital Futures in Libraries. "Sun is pleased to be collaborating with both the National Library of New Zealand and Endeavor, as this joint digital library initiative will ultimately reduce the cost of managing data and, in the future, will revolutionize the way students and citizens can access information." "As with other libraries and national institutions, we are confronting the challenge of digital preservation now to ensure there is no gap in the nation's history in the future," continued New Zealand's Carnaby. Since 2000, the National Library has successfully initiated a programme of digital preservation initiatives, including development of a preservation metadata schema and data dictionary, development of software for the automated extraction of preservation metadata from key file formats, and involvement in international activities such as PREMIS: Preservation Metadata Implementation Strategies. The Library has also implemented an Object Management System to test some elements of the digital preservation process and is currently developing, along with the British Library, a web curator tool for the harvesting of web sites under the auspices of the International Internet Preservation Consortium. "Ultimately, the success of the NDHA Programme and the benefit to the wider library community, will come from the unique combination of Sun's infrastructure, Endeavor's software, Elsevier's heritage in managing large scale content repositories and our commitment to making New Zealand's digital heritage available in perpetuity."
Leading up to this partnership, the National Library established the National Digital Heritage Archive (NDHA) Programme to manage the development of software that will process the ingest, storage, preservation and access of published digital material obtained through legal deposit and donated unpublished digital material. Endeavor's experience providing both software and services to national libraries, coupled with its established digital capabilities, made the company an attractive technology partner for this comprehensive project. "The National Library has built up a huge body of expertise in the digital preservation domain in the past five years and wants to contribute to and influence the product direction. By partnering with Endeavor, the Library will continue to develop that current and valuable body of knowledge," said Carnaby. "Endeavor's advanced technology framework is critical for managing the diverse collection of cultural heritage materials -- such as papers, audio recordings and art images -- currently maintained within an institution such as the National Library of New Zealand." "The National Library of New Zealand and Endeavor share the vision of a dynamic solution for guaranteed permanent access and preservation, one that is also applicable to other national libraries, universities, museums and other research organizations requiring an enterprise solution for ingesting, storing and accessing digital information," said Roland Dietz, president and CEO at Endeavor Information Systems. "We are excited about the progress of this initiative, as it serves as our response to the growing need for standardization of preservation efforts worldwide, as well as the proliferation of governmental and institutional mandates requiring the protection of national and cultural heritage artifacts, as well as scientific, technical and medical literature." Since 1994, Endeavor has pioneered library management systems by offering enhanced functionality coupled with intuitive interfaces that increase usability and efficiency. Partnering with Endeavor and the NDHA Programme will be Sun(R) Microsystems with whom both organizations have ongoing relationships. The vast majority of Endeavor's customers -- upwards of 90 percent -- run on Sun operating systems. In October 2005, Endeavor and Sun expanded their relationship by finalizing a multi-year commitment combining Endeavor's software expertise in architecting digital library management solutions with Sun's infrastructure technologies such as Solaris(TM) 10. The NDHA Programme is the first joint project to commence under this expanded agreement. Likewise, the National Library of New Zealand and Sun have partnered previously. In November 2005, Sun announced the Library as a Sun Centre of Excellence for Digital Futures in Libraries, an agreement recognizing the work of the Library and its staff at the forefront of global digital preservation endeavours. "Reflecting a growing need for technology as part of cultural and academic initiatives, libraries and universities are looking at ways to better use digital information to improve the capture, preservation and access to national archives," said Jim Hassell, managing director, Sun Microsystems Australia and New Zealand at the announcement of the Library's status as a Sun Centre of Excellence for Digital Futures in Libraries. "Sun is pleased to be collaborating with both the National Library of New Zealand and Endeavor, as this joint digital library initiative will ultimately reduce the cost of managing data and, in the future, will revolutionize the way students and citizens can access information." "As with other libraries and national institutions, we are confronting the challenge of digital preservation now to ensure there is no gap in the nation's history in the future," continued New Zealand's Carnaby. Since 2000, the National Library has successfully initiated a programme of digital preservation initiatives, including development of a preservation metadata schema and data dictionary, development of software for the automated extraction of preservation metadata from key file formats, and involvement in international activities such as PREMIS: Preservation Metadata Implementation Strategies. The Library has also implemented an Object Management System to test some elements of the digital preservation process and is currently developing, along with the British Library, a web curator tool for the harvesting of web sites under the auspices of the International Internet Preservation Consortium. "Ultimately, the success of the NDHA Programme and the benefit to the wider library community, will come from the unique combination of Sun's infrastructure, Endeavor's software, Elsevier's heritage in managing large scale content repositories and our commitment to making New Zealand's digital heritage available in perpetuity."