National Digital Library (NDL): The Library is requesting $14,582,963 and 58 FTEs to: (1) develop a digital-repository architecture to preserve current and future digital assets acquired as part of the Library's permanent universal collection ($2,718,895); (2) provide the basic technology infrastructure and support components that must be in place (software, hardware, telecommunications, and technical support staffing - $10,172,967) to enable the Library's program managers and specialists to retain and deliver a digital library; and (3) provide access services for sustaining the Library's digital outreach to the nation ($1,691,101). This request supports the Library's investment in the ongoing digital library program and infrastructure, which provides access to important educational content. This request will provide the resources to manage the full life cycle of digital materials housed at the Library of Congress. The Library's fiscal 2002 NDL budget request of $14,582,963 is independent of -- but compliments - the responsible use of the special appropriation of $99.8 million to lead a national strategic planning effort for long-term preservation of digital materials. The Library's experience in launching and delivering digital content and services to the Congress and the public will inform and help shape this program. But the Library's ability to do so depends on further support for its own inescapable needs. The Congress directed that only $4,989,000, of the $99.8 million special appropriation, may be initially spent for planning as well as for the acquisition and preservation of digital information that may otherwise vanish. The legislation calls for the Library to work jointly with other Federal and nonfederal entities to develop a phased and shared implementation plan to collect, maintain, and provide permanent access to digital materials. We are planning to build a national network of partners for collecting and preserving digital materials with the Library as the primary partner and facilitator of that process. After developing both the plan and the collaborative process with Federal and nonfederal partners, the Library must gain congressional approval of the implementation plan – at which time an additional $19,956,000 and $74,835,000 (with matching funding) would become available as specified in the legislation. The Library's internal resource requirements will ultimately be shaped by this collaborative process. We estimate that the plan will be completed in late 2001; but this request for $14.6 million is needed to position the Library for the heavy added responsibilities it will have to assume, both to sustain its already taxed existing services and to prepare the Library for the key role it will have to play in preserving “born digital” materials. Congressional Research Service: The Library is requesting $3,491,044 and 17 FTEs for CRS to support the research needs of the Congress. The request focuses on strengthening CRS's capacities to support the Congress in the new technologydependent environment, which has significantly changed how the Congress works. CRS needs added resources to address serious and significant gaps in its capacity to analyze increasingly complex technology policy issues, to conduct collaborative research, and to enhance its ability to apply technology to work and communication processes. Computer Security: The Library is requesting $686,088 and 5 FTEs to support the Library-wide Information Technology Services security program. The Library's on-line services represent a critical infrastructure for the operations of the legislative branch and the nation. The new age of Internet opportunities also brings with it vulnerabilities of the Library's automated systems to intrusion and destruction. The Library is addressing these vulnerabilities by implementing its Computer Security plan and needs these resources to ensure the protection of our information assets. - Collections Access, Preservation, and Security A primary mission of the Library is to provide access to, preserve, and secure its vast and largely irreplaceable artifactual collections. The Library is requesting $11.8 million and a 24-FTE increase for collections access, preservation, and security. Components of the increase are: • $3,205,500 to acquire motion picture and sound recording equipment -- Several critical pieces of equipment that support the Library's Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound (MBRS) Division require replacement. The purchase of a Telecine machine ($1,800,000) and two film processors ($385,000) is critical given the lead time necessary to purchase, manufacture, and install the equipment at the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia, during its construction. A new Telecine machine is desperately needed to convert film to video formats and create access copies for use by researchers including congressional offices and staff. The Telecine transfer process is the only method for making films in the Library's collections accessible to constituents for research use. The Library's existing Telecine machine is more than 16 years old and increasingly difficult and costly to keep in operation. • $1,371,618 to support improved inventory management of the collections -Accomplishing inventory management of the Library's books and bound periodicals is a cornerstone of the Library's collections security plan. The Library of Congress Integrated Library System (LC ILS) provides, for the first time, the potential for effective tracking and inventory control of all the Library's books and bound periodicals. The essential next step is to conduct a physical inventory that verifies the LC ILS item records with what is on the Library's bookshelves. A physical inventory will assure that the LC ILS item records that are available on-line accurately reflect what the Library actually has on the shelf. The need to accomplish a physical inventory has been cited in studies and audits for many years. The Library's has consistently responded that the LC ILS will at last provide a tool to support a comprehensive inventory of the book collections. The Computer Science Corporation, KPMG Peat Marwick, and the Library's own risk assessments all highlight the lack of and need for the next step: effective inventory control and tracking. Establishing an accurate base is critical to inventorying the collections periodically, providing efficient internal and external circulation, and measuring changes in the status of items. This base consists of recording actual holdings and other information contained on shelf-markers, or files such as the "negative shelflist" maintained by the Library's Collections Management Division. Effective inventory control and tracking depend on including in the LC ILS database physical location information, but this information can be added to the LC ILS only if the Library has the human resources necessary to input the data. The inventory process is both urgent and lengthy, and the Library must begin and sustain this effort as soon as possible, or it may never be able to validate control over the collections. • $1,705,693 and 2 FTEs to support the second of five increments required in our 30-year (one generation) mass deacidification program -- A priority of the Library's preservation efforts is deacidification of a significant portion of materials printed on high-acid paper, which has dominated printing since the middle of the 19th century. The Congress approved the first increment of this critical program as part of the fiscal 2001 budget, and the Library requests a planned increase of $1,705,693 and two FTEs to continue to scale up to $5.7 million by fiscal year 2005. By 2005, the Library plans to have reached the capacity to deacidify annually 300,000 books and 1,000,000 manuscript sheets. • $1,604,093 and 11 FTEs to support preventive conservation actions for collection materials -- The Library is requesting funds for a plan to preserve and protect the Library's most valuable collections through cost-effective and efficient preservation measures. The plan provides enhanced security and preservation for collections through proper housing, stack maintenance, handling, and shelving procedures. Implementation of this plan would make possible additional monitoring of collection-storage environments, additional preservation-quality housings to stabilize select general and special collections, and additional paper strengthening for too-brittle-to-serve documents. $996,596 to support the shifting of collections (includes $48,000 for equipment) -- The Library is proposing a four-year program that will realign collections with current reading room locations and shift the remaining collections in the Thomas Jefferson and John Adams buildings to take advantage of space vacated by the transfer of collections to Fort Meade Module 1. When Fort Meade Module 1 becomes operational in 2001, the Library will be able to address its critical collections storage space shortage on Capitol Hill. At present, more than 50,000 |