Let's Deposit and Preserve

Have you deposited your publications and digital productions (eg : CDs, DVDs, etc.) with the National Library?

The National Library Board Act (Chapter 197, No. 5 of 1995) at Part II, Section 10 requires two (2) copies of every publication published in Singapore to be deposited with the National Library Board (NLB).

What are the Benefits of Depositing ?

• Preserve Singapore's documentary heritage and assist in building up the national depository for documentary materials
• Provide future access to materials deposited digitally and physically with reduced threats to authenticity and integrity
• Promote your materials and publications in the Singapore National Bibliography which can be accessed worldwide

Enjoy more benefits if you are part of the Deposit Network - DNet^©.

DNet^© is a network to acknowledge publishers, organisations, donors and content developers (such as authors, music composers and self-publishers) that actively deposit and donate their materials with the National Library Singapore.

Click on DNET^© to find out more.

How to Deposit Printed Publications ?

For deposit of printed publications, please fill up the Deposit Publications form under Deposit.

If you are depositing with NLB for the first time, you may refer to the Step-by-Step Guide for Publishers to help you fill up the Deposit Publications form.

What is Digital Legal Deposit?

Documents are increasingly being published digitally, or created digitally for printing. Due to the fast changes in the technological world, we face a potential risk of losing our digital published heritage, unless we preserve the same.

The purpose of this voluntary digital legal deposit scheme is to close this growing gap in anticipation of the changes in legislation, to include the legal deposit of digital and internet publications.

What are the Benefits of Digital Deposits?

• Preservation of Published Heritage and Your Assets

Many publishers currently produce digital publications to meet the need for fast and cost-saving methods, for the production and distribution of information. If the digital materials are not managed properly, they may become un-usable in a matter of few years due to technological obsolescence or media decay.

To ensure that access to these important assets and heritage materials are protected, NLB encourages publishers to start depositing the Singapore digital publications voluntarily with NLB. NLB will provide the framework and services to manage, care for and preserve the digital publications for future generations, as well as for your future use.

• Digital Preservation of Digital Publications

Digital publication lends itself to ease of change and technical obsolescence. At the time of deposit by publishers, NLB will 'freeze' the digital content with time-stamps and checksums to allow verification that the content is the same as what has been submitted. Where there is a need to migrate the content to a newer approved format for continued access, a copy will be made in the new format and re-ingested into the digital preservation system.

How to Deposit Digital Materials ?

For voluntary deposits of digital and internet publications, you may use the Deposit Publications form.

For journal publishers and publishers with annual publishing output of more than one hundred (100) items per year, please contact NLB for discussion on the deposit packages and arrangement for batch deposits.

For more details on matters such as File Format, Access to Publication, Copyrights, etc. please click on Digital Deposit .

Contact Details

For more information, please contact:

Tel	:	63323255
Email	:	legaldep@nlb.gov.sg