Chairperson
Heads of Places of Legal Deposit
Members of the Legal Deposit Committee
Ladies and Gentlemen

Good Morning

Chairperson, allow me to extend a warm welcome to all of you here today, especially to all the newly appointed members of the Legal Deposit Committee. I hope that you will find your participation in the Legal Deposit Committee rewarding and fulfilling.

The idea of legal deposit dates back several hundred years. The purpose of legal deposit is to collect a nation’s published documents as comprehensively and systematically as possible and to preserve them, so that they will be available to current and future generations. However, in this era of electronic publishing this noble idea faces serious challenges.

The Legal Deposit Act also provides for the establishment of official publications depositories, and I am proud to mention to you that I have to date approved the designation of two official publications depositories (OPDs) in the country. The first OPD is at the Constitutional Court Library, and the second one was officially launched on 11 March 2006 at the Phuthaditjhaba Public Library, in the Free State.

As you know, the Legal Deposit Act, 1997 prescribes that OPDs should-

- Serve as centres for promoting public awareness of, and access to, official publications and information held by government and institutions listed in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, and
- Provide public access to databases and other information sources to which the public are legally entitled to.

Access to information is therefore one of the cornerstones of the Act. It is my firm believe that information and access thereto through libraries and other means, will play a vital role in furthering democratization and in promoting human rights and human development in South Africa. The challenge for you is to ensure greater access to information sources for development at both regional and local levels.

We are living through an age of transition into an information society. As the South African government we have recognized the valuable role that libraries play in the knowledge economy, promoting lifelong learning and nurturing social cohesion. The re-capitalisation of the sector will ensure greater public access to ICT and its related benefits. If we are to take full advantage of the opportunities that the e-world offers, we have to think much more creatively, beyond our institutional boundaries and certainly collaboratively on a national scale. It is important that places of legal deposit commit themselves to sustainable development to meet the needs of our developing country, and therefore to preserve and make available to all users, without discrimination, the full variety of published documents reflecting the cultural and linguistic diversity of our society.

There is a great advantage in working together – to establish and promote best practice, to share understanding of user needs, and to create imaginative partnerships to enrich the networked environment. Most important, however is enhancing the lives of people who interact with our collections and expertise through cyber-space.

The Millenium Project, whose objective is developing an interface for resource sharing among the places of legal deposit in South Africa, is the first stimulus towards meaningful cooperation between places of legal deposit. The project aims to establish an ICT infrastructure that will enable better cooperation between places of legal deposit, amongst others to increase the value of scholarly research among the custodians of the country’s history. Although the project has not been running as is expected I am hopeful that the challenges around it can be swiftly resolved.

The biggest challenge in the legal deposit sector is encouraging private and commercial publishers to deposit their material. Stimulating the proliferation of information technology, and more specifically, the creation of a digital environment is foremost amongst them. As the nature of material changes, more and more documents are made available on the Internet, and the users are required to pay subscriptions in order to access the material. One of our main concerns is the fact that the information is constantly being updated in real time, so that data and information systematically disappear in a matter of seconds and might no longer be available as historical records.

Does this mean that the national places of legal deposit should limit themselves to the preservation of knowledge and information for future generations solely tyo tangible materials ? The answer is an unambiguous no. The preservation of the national cultural and intellectual heritage is a matter of public interest and is a state responsibility.

It is absolutely necessary that the nation’s collective memory be identified, described in the national bibliography and preserved. The Legal deposit of publications are an essential element of such a program. The government supports your initiatives and is vitally interested in your success..

Chairperson,
Members of the Committee,
Ladies and gentlemen,
it gives me great pleasure to formally declare this meeting open and the Legal Deposit Committee truly launched, may you enjoy success in your deliberations.

Thank you

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