The UvA and the AUAS library treasure a unique and invaluable collection of digitized and digital-born objects, mostly from the Allard Pierson’s library, museum and archive collections.* The library will be setting up a new Digital Depot, as a place where this content can be stored to similar quality standards as physical collections. The new depot will be the central place for the storage, access and long-term preservation of digital collections, according to the best practice for museums, archives and libraries: the OAIS reference model and the ISO 16363 standard.

After a European tender procedure, which included a live proof of concept, Spanish company LIBNOVA was selected for this new Depot. LIBNOVA is a worldwide leader in digital preservation, with amongst its customers the British Library, HILA Stanford University, the EPFL and the University of Oxford. Their software platform LIBSAFE did particularly well on being efficient to work with, important given the amount of material that staff will be ingesting into the new depot.

This project includes consultancy to define new processing workflows and to integrate the depot with ArchivesSpace, the Ex Libris Alma library system and other components.

Pilot project business archive Nieuw Ensemble
The project team is looking forward to work together with LIBNOVA to realize the new Digital Depot! The first pilot project that will start later this year concerns the company archive of the former music ensemble Nieuw Ensemble housed at the Allard Pierson*. This includes e-mail messages and production materials.

For more information, see the press release on the website of LIBNOVA.

Questions? Please contact the Library. 

*The Allard Pierson is the museum and knowledge institute for the heritage collections of the University of Amsterdam