Australian Newspaper Plan

Australian Newspaper Plan

Annual Report 2007/8

National & State Libraries Australasia

November 2008

Australian Newspaper Plan

Preserving for Permanent Access

Annual Report 2007/8

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to describe progress with the Australian Newspaper Plan (ANPlan) in 2007/8. The achievements of ANPlan are evaluated against the goals set out in ANPlan’s Five Year Plan, July 2005 - June 2010 (see Appendix E).

BACKGROUND

Established in 1992, ANPlan is a partnership of the National Library of Australia (NLA) and each of the state/territory libraries. The National Library of New Zealand (NLNZ) is a full member with observer status.

While ANPlan has always focused on collecting, preserving and providing access to Australian newspapers, the evolution of technologies has continually challenged ANPlan libraries to re-evaluate how these aims can best be achieved. The first Five Year Plan, developed by all ANPlan libraries, was endorsed by National & State Libraries Australasia (NSLA) in November 2005. It addressed, in particular, actions relating to key ‘at risk’ newspapers. A revised plan which encompassed decisions made at a workshop on the implications of digital technology for newspaper preservation and access in 2007 was endorsed by NSLA later that year. Over 2007/8, ANPlan libraries have progressed these actions, positioning themselves to fulfil ANPlan’s objectives into the future.

Significant achievements for the period include:

·  the location and acquisition of missing newspapers through the Search and Rescue campaign (4.1);

·  the documentation of guidelines/standards for the digital capture of newspapers and the digitisation and provision of digital access to newspapers through the Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program (4.7 and 5.8);

·  the development of a costing framework and the gathering of data about the comparative costs of newspaper microfilming and digitisation (4.11 and 4.12);

·  a national survey of public libraries’ activity and attitudes regarding newspaper digitisation and digital newspapers; and responding to public libraries requesting assistance or advice in digitising newspaper titles (4.15 and 4.16);

·  newspaper heritage preserved for permanent access both through the significant contribution of the NLA’s cooperative newspaper microfilming program and through individual libraries’ commitment to their preservation microfilming programs (5.2);

·  the estimation of total progress to date with microfilming, storage and cataloguing of newspapers, resulting in a better knowledge of what remains to be done (5.2, 5.3 & 5.4, 5.7);

·  raising public awareness of the role of libraries in collecting, preserving and providing access to Australian newspapers and the significance of newspapers through the Search and Rescue campaign (5.9).

PROGRESS

Progress in achieving the goals set out in ANPlan’s Five Year Plan is described below:

National Goals

A.  4.1 Collecting

During 2008, there has been a focus on this goal with the launch of ANPlan’s Search and Rescue campaign. The goals of this campaign were twofold:

·  to recruit the help of the public in finding newspapers which are missing from the collections of the ANPlan libraries; and

·  to raise public awareness of the role of libraries in collecting, preserving and providing access to Australian newspapers.

Newspapers which have either been acquired by ANPlan libraries or for which access is being arranged as a result of the Search and Rescue campaign are listed in Appendix A.

In preparation for the Search and Rescue campaign, many of the ANPlan libraries have revised their lists of missing newspapers/issues. These are available at: http://www.nla.gov.au/anplan/about/collect/

Interestingly, the campaign has illustrated the difficulty in defining the task of identifying missing newspapers in Australian libraries’ collections. Only one of the newspapers which was found in the course of the Search and Rescue campaign was on the list of ‘nationally significant’ missing newspaper titles/issues in the Five Year Plan (Appendix E); many of the newspapers found were not previously known to exist.

B.  Microfilming

4.2 To preserve access to listed nationally significant ‘at risk’ newspaper titles

The following listed titles have been microfilmed to preservation standards:[1]

Advertiser 1923-1959 (State Library of South Australia; SLSA) Refilming has been completed to the end of 1952.

Evening Star (Boulder) 1900-21 (State Library of Western Australia; SLWA)

Register 1836-1931 (SLSA) Refilming has been completed to the end of 1846. To date, this title has been simultaneously refilmed and digitised from the hardcopy.

South Bourke and Mornington Journal 1921-1927 (State Library of Victoria; SLV) Microfilming completed for 1923-Aug 1927; 1921-22 not completed because these issues are missing.

Wangaratta Chronicle 1938-1960 (SLV)

Western Argus 1915-1938 (SLWA)

Western Mail July 1926-1940 (SLWA)

Winner (Melbourne) 1914-1918 (SLV)

In summary, to date, 8 of the 12 nominated nationally significant ‘at risk’ titles have been preserved through reformatting— 6 for the full date-range available and 2 for a portion of the date-range nominated.

4.3 To re-film listed nationally significant newspapers to a quality which will support subsequent digitisation

The following nationally significant newspapers have been re-filmed:[2]

Advertiser 1923-1959 (SLSA) Refilming has been completed to the end of 1952.

Albany Advertiser 1897-1950 (SLWA) 1897-1901 refilmed to required standard, 1902-1950 to be refilmed.

Bunbury Herald 1892-1929 (SLWA) 1892-1902 refilmed to required standard, 1903 –1929 to be refilmed.

Coolgardie Miner 1894-1918; 1935-1950 (SLWA) 1894 –1911, 1913-1917, 1935-1950 refilmed to required standard, (Jun 1911-Feb 1913 were missing at the time of filming; paper ceased publication from 1917 – 1935).

Daily News 1882-1950 (SLWA) Filming in progress.

Eastern Districts Chronicle 1877-1926 (SLWA)

Geraldton Guardian 1906-1950 (SLWA)

Kalgoorlie Miner 1895-1950 (SLWA)

Northern Times 1905-1950 (SLWA)

Pilbarra Goldfields News 1897-1923 (SLWA)

Register 1847-1931 (SLSA) refilming complete to end of 1846

South Western News 1903-1949 (SLWA)

Southern Times 1888-1916 (SLWA) 1888 – Jul 1903 filmed to required standard, Aug 1903 - 1916 to be refilmed to required standard.

Sunday Times 1897-1950 (SLWA)

Sydney Gazette & New South Wales Advertiser (State Library of New South Wales; SLNSW)

Western Australian Times 1874-1879 (SLWA)

Western Mail 1885-1950 (SLWA)

In summary, 17 of the 22 newspapers nominated have been either re-filmed or re-filmed for a portion of the date range specified in the five year plan.

4.4 Develop a better understanding of the future viability of microfilming

While activity is still in progress in this area, communication with a small subset of universities has indicated a lack of interest in this issue from this sector. One major university reported that it was not planning on purchasing more microfilm.

4.5 Develop a contingency plan in case commercial microfilming bureau services are withdrawn

This action is still outstanding.

C.  Digitisation and Maintaining Access to Digital Versions of Newspapers

4.6. Confirm what ANPlan libraries’ rights under copyright law are in relation to preservation of and access to newspapers in the digital environment.

This action item is scheduled for discussion at the November 2008 meeting of ANPlan.

4.7 Develop standards/guidelines for digital capture of hard copy newspapers, microform copies of newspapers and for digitisation for access purposes only.

As part of the Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program (ANDP), the NLA has developed guidelines for the digital capture of both hard copy newspapers and microform. These are available through the ANDP website Project Details area (www.nla.gov.au/ndp/project_details/):

Digitising from Hard Copy (http://www.nla.gov.au/ndp/project_details/documents/ANDP_Digitising_from_hardcopy_002.pdf)

Australian Newspapers: Statement of Work Specification for Scanning of Microfilm (http://www.nla.gov.au/ndp/project_details/documents/ANDP_Work_Specification_microfilm_scanning_v1.2.pdf)

The NLA has also made available on its website guidelines for digitisation for access purposes:

Digital capture and image creation - standards and equipment (www.nla.gov.au/digital/capture.html)

4.8 Develop standards/guidelines for the management, storage and preservation of digital newspaper files.

While documenting these standards is still an outstanding action item, the NLA has developed a diagram outlining the system architecture for the ANDP:

Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program System Architecture (http://www.nla.gov.au/ndp/project_details/documents/ANDP_SystemArchitecturediagram_public.pdf)

4.9 State/territory libraries to provide comment on whether the standards/guidelines are practical and achievable.

The NLA has already received comment from some of the state/territory libraries; it also welcomes comments on an ongoing basis.

4.10 Develop guidelines on how to contribute to the national newspaper digitisation service.

Preliminary guidelines are available in the document:

Statement of Work Specification for Content Analysis and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) (http://www.nla.gov.au/ndp/project_details/documents/ANDP_StatementofWorkSpecificationforContentAnalysisandOCR.pdf).

The NLA is currently developing policy and guidelines for contributions to the ANDP. These will be discussed with ANPlan libraries at their November 2008 meeting.

D.  Costing Different Approaches to Preserving Access to Newspapers

4.11 Develop a costing framework for comparing newspaper microfilming and digitisation costs.

A costing framework was developed by the SLSA in October 2007 and is available through the NLA’s website at: http://www.nla.gov.au/wgroups/nplan/documents/costelements.doc.

4.12 Gather data about the comparative costs of newspaper microfilming and digitisation

This data was gathered in late 2007/early 2008 and has been made available to all ANPlan libraries. The implications of this data for strategic decision making in relation to reformatting of newspapers is scheduled for discussion by ANPlan libraries at their next meeting in November 2008.

E. ‘Born digital’ newspapers

4.13 Investigate issues involved in collecting, archiving and providing access to online newspapers

This item is still outstanding; ANPlan libraries will report on any activity as it occurs.

4.14 Investigate the gathering of pre-press electronic versions of newspapers; decide which file types would be suitable for preservation and develop an issues paper on the feasibility of a pre-press preservation strategy for ANPlan libraries.

With initial work on this action item being undertaken by the SLSA, other ANPlan libraries have followed in investigating the possibilities of preserving pre-press electronic newspapers as they have been able to. An issues paper has not yet been developed.

F.  Roles and Responsibilities in the Digital Era

4.15 Conduct a national survey of activity and attitudes towards newspaper digitisation within public libraries.

The aim of this online survey, conducted in late 2007, was to obtain a snapshot of Australian public libraries’ activities and attitudes regarding:

·  newspaper digitisation;

·  the collection of electronic versions that are identical to hard copy newspapers; and

·  the provision of access (both immediate and long-term) to digital newspapers.

Responses to this survey were received from 169 libraries from the following states/territories: (NSW: 32; NT: 1;[3] Qld: 18; SA: 12; Vic: 32; WA: 60).[4] The number of public libraries engaging in newspaper digitisation activities is still small, with just fifteen percent of libraries reporting that they have started to digitise newspapers, or intend to do so in the next three years. However, driven mainly by public demand, the interest of public libraries in newspaper digitisation projects which will enable them to provide access to digital versions of newspapers appears to be high.

Overall, the focus of libraries surveyed is on short-term rather than long-term access. Many of the libraries reported that they are still working out how access to their digital newspapers will be preserved and what their role will be. Approximately half (51%) of the 169 libraries included in the survey were aware of the ANDP. Many are keen to receive guidelines about digitisation from their state/territory library or from the NLA and to hear more about the ANDP, with a view to working with this Program.

Only a small minority of libraries are receiving electronic copies of newspapers, which are identical to the hard-copy version, directly from publishers.

4.16 Develop and circulate an issues paper and proposed responses to public libraries requesting assistance/advice in digitising newspaper titles.

The NLA summarised the survey’s findings in a report:

The Digital Future of Newspapers (www.nla.gov.au/anplan/extras/documents/TheDigitalFutureofNewspapersPublicLibrariesSurvey.doc)

and drafted a letter for ANPlan libraries to send to the public libraries within their state/territory telling them about the survey results, the ANDP and newspaper digitisation guidelines available through the ANDP website. Public libraries were invited to contact their state library or the ANDP for further information.

4.17 Review and revise ANPlan’s Five Year Plan to reflect the Action Plan developed at the Australian Newspaper Plan workshop on the implications of digital technology for newspaper preservation and access, held in June 2007.

The revised Five Year Plan was endorsed by NSLA in November 2007.

State/Territory Goals

5.1 Checking condition of masters

In 2007/8, the State Library of Queensland (SLQ) reformatted 1,500 reels of microfilm from the unstable acetate to archival microfilm. In cooperation with the NLA, the SLNSW completed a project to produce duplicate negatives (printing masters) for all titles filmed as part of the NSW Provincial Newspaper Project (1969-1992). The Northern Territory Library (NTL) has checked the condition of its master microfilm of historical newspapers prior to deciding whether to re-film for subsequent digitisation. The five major historical NT newspapers have been recommended for re-filming due to the poor initial filming (missing issues, filmed onto acetate, etc.)

5.2 Microfilming

For a list of titles filmed in 2007/8, see Appendix B.

Cooperative Newspaper Microfilming

In 2007/8, the NLA provided a total of $417,941 (GST inclusive) to state/territory libraries through cooperative newspaper microfilming funding. Newspapers filmed under this program included those designated as being ‘nationally significant at risk’ in the ANPlan five year plan and those that will support the national newspaper digitisation program.

For 2008/9, $421,300 (GST inclusive) has been offered to the SLQ, SLNSW, SLV, SLSA, SLWA and NTL.

When asked to estimate the percentage of newspaper titles in their state/territory which had been microfilmed, ANPlan libraries’ estimates were as follows (numbers in brackets denote the estimated percentage of newspapers in which the preservation master is filmed to current microfilming standards): NLA (for ACT): 25% (22%); NTL: 90% (no data); SLNSW: 98% (91%); SLQ: 75% (67%); SLSA: 60% (54%); State Library of Tasmania (SLT): 97% (97%); SLV: no data (<1%); SLWA: 50% (22%).

5.3 5.4 Improvement of storage arrangements for preservation masters and newspapers

All ANPlan libraries which provided data estimated that approximately 100% of their newspaper microfilm masters were stored optimally to preserve long-term access. (No data was available from the NTL).

Several of the state/territory libraries house their newspaper microfilm in the NLA’s cold store. The NTL is preparing to commence using the NLA’s cold store in 2008/9.

Last financial year saw the completion of the SLV’s custom-built cool rooms in the main library building at Swanston Street. Copying masters have all been relocated here under the following environmental conditions: 12°C; 30% RH. Most (99%) original newspapers are stored in the SLV’s purpose built offsite store at Ballarat (21°C; 50% RH) with the remainder being stored at the main library building under identical environmental conditions. Preservation masters are stored within the NLA’s cold store.