Prepress
Ex Libris Collaborates on the EU-funded PrestoPrime Project to Make AudioVisual Media Accessible Over Time
Monday 26. January 2009 - Ex Libris joins a European consortium of broadcasters and innovators to develop preservation technologies, tools, and processes for audiovisual collections
Ex Libris Group is pleased to announce that based on its experience in the development of digital preservation systems for libraries, the Company was invited to become a member of the PrestoPrime consortium. PrestoPrime is a European Union project, funded by the Seventh Framework Program (FP7) to research and develop means of ensuring the permanence of digital audiovisual objects in archives, libraries, museums, and collections.
The goal of PrestoPrime, to be pursued over a four-year schedule, is to evaluate and prepare tools and processes for the long-term preservation of audiovisual objects, programs, and collections, and to find ways of integrating specialized audiovisual archives into the framework of digital libraries. Program partners include three of the major European broadcasting agencies: the French national broadcaster, Institut National de l’Audiovisuel (INA)–which is coordinating the program– Italys national broadcaster, Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI), the British Broadcasting Corporation, (BBC) and several other leading technology innovators from Europe.
In November 2008, version 1.0 of the Ex Libris Rosetta digital preservation system went live at the National Library of New Zealand, and the system is now in general release. Ex Libris Rosetta is a first-of-its-kind solution enabling academic, research, and national libraries to maintain the usability and integrity of their digital resources in perpetuity. The understanding that preservation and access belong togetherand are not mutually exclusive entitiesdictated a design in which preservation support is built directly into the platform rather than serving as an add-on feature.
“Ex Libris is thrilled to have this opportunity to contribute to the wider community,” Tamar Sadeh, director of marketing at Ex Libris, commented. “After years of research and advocacy for the cause of digital preservation, it is indeed an honor for us to participate in the PrestoPrime project. We look forward to extending our expertise to dealing also with the preservation of audiovisual materials, leveraging our thorough understanding of the needs of digital libraries.”