On Friday, 16 August 2024, Australia’s national, state and territory libraries celebrated five years since the official launch of the National edeposit service (NED). NED was formally launched in 2019 as a world-first in the library sector. This collaborative service collects, preserves, and provides nationwide access to the national collection of digital documentary heritage of Australia. NED can include books, graphic novels, comics, newspapers, maps, government publications, electronic publications and much more.
The NED Collection will now also be accessible on Trove, making it easier for a global audience to discover deposited publications and materials.
For the fifth anniversary, the National State Libraries Australasia (NSLA) created a video about the NED service and the crucial role of legal deposit and the national collection in recording Australia's identity as it unfolds.
What is NED and Legal Deposit?
From the NSLA website:
“Since the earliest days of libraries in Australia, the national, state and territory libraries have been collecting, preserving, and sharing Australia’s stories and have collectively built a vital national collection of the country’s documentary heritage using a mandate known as ‘legal deposit’
Legal deposit legislation requires publishers to deposit one copy of all published material with their national, and relevant state or territory, library, depending on where the item was published. This legislated mandate is important because it means the national collection includes everything, free from political, moral, aesthetic, or literary judgements, ensuring that everything published in Australia is valued and treasured equally by the libraries who share the responsibility to preserve our country’s documentary heritage and stories.
Legal deposit collections help library users-researchers, readers, and audiences everywhere-to understand the Australian experience. For the national, state and territory libraries, being a legal deposit library is one of their most important responsibilities.”
The State Library is the legal depository for Western Australia. Find out how to make a legal deposit on the Contribute to the State Library Collections page.
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