Did you know that it’s a statutory requirement under the Copyright Act (1968) to lodge a copy of your “published” works with the National Library of Australia as well as with your State Library?

This includes private publishing such as family history books.   The purpose is to preserve material that may be helpful to future generations in Australia.  This includes printed and digital works.

The National Library website only require one copy of a works, so if you have it in both printed form and digital form you may choose which you would prefer to lodge.  The National Library of Australia prefer electronic form if available.  In general, this likely makes it easier and cheaper for self-publishers to lodge a digital copy from home.  Further information on the procedure can be found here – https://www.nla.gov.au/using-library/services-publishers/legal-deposit#

The National edeposit (NED) service also allows you control over when your work can be be viewed, this is comforting for those lodging family history books as these sometimes contain details of living people, therefore you can request restricted access.

State Libraries each have their own procedures so check within the state you live, for example, in Western Australia, they prefer two copies, one as the archival copy and one is an access copy.  In Western Australia, they do advise that the library may consider paying for the second copy or a digital copy for the second copy may be sufficient.   As each state’s requirements vary it is best to check what is needed in the state you live.

The “National eDeposit” website also have links for each state so you can check what you need to do – https://ned.gov.au/resources/legal-deposit-obligations.html .

Courtesy of Judy Purkiss