Titans in the library: Prometheus unbinds at-risk data.

• Author: Pearson, David
• Position: Information storage and retrieval system

The Prometheus job interface (click image to enlarge)

Library developer Snezana Mihajlovic uses a customised mini-jukebox attached to a standard Library workstation

Photo: Douglas Elford, National Library

The Problem

The National Library of Australia has a relatively small but important collection of digital material stored on physical media carriers such as floppy disks, CDs and DVDs. This includes both published material and unpublished manuscripts in digital form. To date, preservation of the Library's physical format digital collection has been taken care of manually, on a case-by-case basis, but this approach is insufficient to deal effectively with the total volume of incoming material requiring preservation. The Library collects digital material...