Jordan, at the inaugural meeting of the reconstituted Legal Deposit
Committee
25 July 2006
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 100 years. The purpose of legal
deposit is to collect a nationâs 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 (PFMA), and
* pProvide 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 democratisation 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 recognised 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 Information and Communication Technology (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 Millennium 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 co-operation between places of legal deposit.
The project aims to establish an ICT infrastructure that will enable better
co-operation between places of legal deposit, amongst others to increase the
value of scholarly research among the custodians of the countryâs history.
Although the project has not been running as 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 for 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 nationâs collective memory be
identified, described in the national bibliography and preserved. The legal
deposit of publications are an essential element of such a programme. 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.
Issued by: Ministry of Arts and Culture
25 July 2006
