I received an interesting email from the National Library of Australia today, in it they requested permission to archive Samuel’s Blog in the PANDORA Archive [1], “a growing collection of Australian online publications, established initially by the National Library of Australia in 1996, and now built in collaboration with nine other Australian libraries and cultural collecting organisations.”
Whilst there is a section in PANDORA for blogs [2], there doesn’t appear to be a selection criteria for them, as far as I can tell the closest match is “personal sites” [3], which states:
Personal sites will usually only be selected if they provide information of outstanding research value unavailable elsewhere or if they are of exceptional quality or particular interest.
I must say that I am honoured by this request, and look forward to providing a resource for the future. PANDORA entries are maintained by the National Library Of Australia for future generations, which means that Samuel’s Blog will remain available to the public regardless of whether this site remains in existence or is made obsolete by changes in technology. PANDORA entries are also added to the National Library’s catalogue and the National Bibliographic Database (a database of catalogue records shared by over 1,100 Australian libraries).
The entire site will be archived on an annual basis, and will be made available through the PANDORA website. This includes all articles, photos, audio, video, and even Samuel’s Persiflage [4].
Needless to say I am excited about this, and have granted the National Library permission to archive.
Just in case you were wondering, PANDORA is an acronym for “Preserving and Accessing Networked Documentary Resources of Australia”.
If you are reading this in the year 2050 or some other far flung future year, welcome! I hope you find this useful in some way, I am proud to be part of documented Australian history. I wonder what I’ll be doing in 2050 (I’ll be 63 years old…will I still be running this site?).
Samuel
Comments Disabled To "Samuel’s Blog in the Pandora’s Box"
#1 Comment By AM BETTER THAN FM On January 18, 2006 @ 11:18 pm
Congradulations!
it looks like you are cementing your blog in history
#2 Comment By mick On January 19, 2006 @ 11:52 am
Yeah, all bloggers got that email like a year ago.
Don’t feel too special 🙂
#3 Comment By Samuel On January 19, 2006 @ 12:13 pm
My blog didn’t exist a year ago. Anyway, I’m quite proud that I am contributing to the archives of the National Library.
#4 Comment By mick On January 19, 2006 @ 1:32 pm
Yeah, i was proud at first too. But then you find out that every man and his dog’s blog got the same thing and it starts to make you feel not so proud any more.
#5 Comment By Samuel On January 19, 2006 @ 1:41 pm
I see 60 blogs in PANDORA at the moment, so I don’t think it is at “every man and his dog” stage just yet.
Anyway, as they are all hand selected by people, I should be pleased that a national institution wants to preserve my work…even if every blog in Australia ends up there eventually.
#6 Comment By Samuel On January 19, 2006 @ 3:04 pm
Make that 61. The archive of Samuel’s Blog can be found at [5]
It came out rather nicely in the archive I think. Well done to the National Library and their PANDAS software.
For the person who sent me an anonymous email through the contact form, yes, that is a stray “the” in the title of this article.
#7 Comment By AM BETTER THAN FM On January 19, 2006 @ 10:59 pm
Please dont be rude to sam he is sweet and charming,
would you ,like a girlfriend sam