NED is a collaborative service for collecting, preserving and accessing Australian electronic publications. It is a world-first in the library sector.
NED enables publishers to meet their national, state and territory electronic legal deposit obligations through a single deposit pathway, while supporting the long-term management, storage, discovery and delivery of published electronic material across Australia. NED brings together the National Library and state and territory libraries to make digital documentary heritage simpler, more equitable and more accessible, according to publisher-nominated conditions.
The NED service was formally launched by the Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, the Hon. Paul Fletcher MP, on 16 August 2019.
Why NED?
Legal deposit legislation in Australia means that our national, state and territory libraries – the nine Australian members of NSLA – have a mandate to collect copies of everything published in their jurisdictions. Over many years, these libraries have built vast collections of print publications that provide the documentary history of 19th and 20th century Australia for all to access.
Today, of course, publications come in a more complex range of formats. Books, journals, newspapers, maps and music, for example, may be print or electronic, static or interactive. Electronic-only formats such as websites, social media and databases proliferate. These publications can be easy to access in the moment, but harder to capture and preserve.
Until recently, there was no legal imperative to deposit electronic publications in Australia: legislation referred only to print. Recognising a shift in preference for digital, some libraries began accepting electronic as well as physical copies of legal deposit publications, where others were restricted by local legislation, policies and systems. Publishers were confronted with an increasingly confusing set of requirements in fulfilling their national and state-based obligations.
In 2016, after a decades-long campaign, Australia's national legal deposit provisions were extended to cover electronic materials through changes to the Copyright Act.
NSLA members saw an opportunity to build on their long history of collaboration and reduce the complexity of legal deposit. They agreed to create a single service for the deposit, management, storage, preservation, discovery and delivery of published electronic material nationwide.
Following a two-year build phase to satisfy nine sets of technical requirements and legislation while balancing open-access principles, copyright law, content security and protection of commercial viability, National edeposit (NED) went live on 30 May 2019.
What we're working on
NED is now operating as 'business as usual' in NSLA libraries, prioritising enhancements to keep up with changes in publication formats, publisher needs, accessibility requirements and available technology.
Our vision is that NED is central to Australia’s digital cultural memory - an enduring, trusted and innovative service that seamlessly acquires, preserves and connects digital publications within an integrated national collecting ecosystem. Enabled by transformative technologies and strengthened through national collaboration, NED is recognised as critical cultural infrastructure delivering measurable, long-term value by ensuring equitable access to Australia’s published heritage and supporting the creation, discovery and use of knowledge for all Australians.
Follow our progress at ned.gov.au.
Visit the official NED website
Learn more about National edeposit and publisher services.
Go to ned.gov.au