The Biblioteca de Catalunya (BC), as the institution responsible for compiling, processing and distributing the bibliographic heritage of Catalonia, has initiated a project that is a characteristic of developed societies: this is the Digital Heritage of Catalonia (PADICAT). It consists of collecting, processing and providing permanent access to the entire cultural, scientific and general output of Catalonia in digital format. The objective of PADICAT is to archive Catalan web sites.
The project began in 2005 and has involved the collaboration of the Centre de Supercomputació de Catalunya (CESCA) and the support of the Secretaria de Telecomunicacions i Societat de la Informació (STSI) of the Generalitat de Catalunya. It has a budget of €766,000.
In some countries, similar projects are known as "national digital archives" or "web archives". The best known of these are the giant Internet Archive, Australia's Pandora and Sweden's Kulturarw3.
PADICAT is based on the application of a number of computer programs that allow web pages published on the Internet to be collected, stored, organized, preserved and permanently accessed.
In accordance with the general trend among national libraries, the archive model used by BC is a hybrid system consisting of the following: - Mass compilation of open-access digital resources published on the Internet.
- Systematic archiving of the web site output of Catalan organizations.
- Fostering of lines of research through themed integration of the digital resources pertaining to specific events in Catalan public life.
In June 2005 BC began the preliminary planning phase in which an analysis was undertaken of existing projects and resources, the agents involved in the production of web sites in Catalonia, and the legal aspects constraining the actions to be carried out. The 2006-2008 period covers the production phase, project pilot plan and operational phase of PADICAT: the systematic collecting of Catalan web sites.
By 2009, BC should be in an optimum position, whereby this system -a pioneer in Spain and a benchmark in Europe- operates at full capacity, with quantitative indicators of 100,000 Web pages captured in different editions. This may include some 50 million files and 30 terabytes of data. Furthermore, cooperation agreements are scheduled to be signed with 300 institutions of all kinds and online open access to a considerable part of the collection will be available.
The benefits of a digital archive project in Catalonia will reach all sectors of society: - For the public, there will be permanent open access to the resources that are the result of the knowledge and expression of the creators of the 21st century, whether cultural, educational, scientific or administrative and containing technical, legal, medical and other information.
- For institutions, businesses, administrations and individuals who produce web pages in Catalonia, this will involve the preservation of their output and guarantee access -within the terms of the law- to contents and designs that would otherwise disappear.
- For the library system, it provides unlimited opportunities for cooperation with other libraries, archives and museums in Catalonia. It will show initiative and leadership in the creation of the digital heritage of Spain.
Catalonia is in a privileged position among the more developed countries in terms of digital preservation of its output, research into and use of new digital formats and access to web pages that are generated on a daily basis to provide visibility to and communicate the actions of all the social institutions in Catalonia.
On 21 July 2006, using the parameters defined by the BC, work began on the automated collection of web sites that were candidates for becoming part of the Digital Heritage of Catalonia. The first of these were those of the town councils of Berga and Palafrugell, and the professional associations of Quantity Surveyors and Technical Architects of Tarragona and of Social Workers of Catalonia. On 11 September 2006, coinciding with the Diada (the Catalan national day of celebration), PADICAT went into operation for the general public, with some thirty web pages archived. |
