I recently came across the Library of Congress blog, where they now have this post up about preservation, linking to a WaPo Op-Ed:

An estimated 44 percent of Web sites that existed in 1998 vanished without a trace within just one year. The average life span of a Web site is only 44 to 75 days. The gadgets that inform our lives — cellphones, computers, iPods, DVDs, memory cards — are filled with digital content. Yet the lifetime of these media is discouragingly short. Data on 5 1/4 -inch floppies may already be lost forever; this format, so pervasive only a decade ago, can’t be read by the latest generation of computers. Changing file and hardware formats, or computer viruses and hard-drive crashes, can render years of creativity inaccessible.

By contrast, the Library of Congress has in its care millions of printed works, some on stone or animal skin that have survived for centuries. The challenges underlying digital preservation led Congress in 2000 to appropriate $100 million for the Library of Congress to lead the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program, a growing partnership of 67 organizations charged with preserving and making accessible “born digital” information for current and future generations.

It’s fun to see the LOC putting up this kind of content; it provides a great window into what’s on the radar of some people at the LOC. I’m also glad to read about their interest in digital preservation, since that’s an entire chapter of our report.

Is anyone aware of the NDIIPP Advisory Council’s opinions of the FDLP program?