Israel's legal deposit law in global context

Nearly half a century after it first came into effect, Israel's legal deposit law has been amended to make its provisions in accordance with and appropriate for the digital age. Other considerations guiding legislators were the necessity to adjust the law in response to laws (particularly Basic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Government information quarterly 2009, Vol.26 (1), p.174-179
Main Author: Rabina, Debbie L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cultural heritage
Documentation
Information Technology
Israel
Legal deposit
legislation
Legislators
Libraries
Preservation
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Summary:Nearly half a century after it first came into effect, Israel's legal deposit law has been amended to make its provisions in accordance with and appropriate for the digital age. Other considerations guiding legislators were the necessity to adjust the law in response to laws (particularly Basic Laws) passed since the original deposit law was enacted. This paper traces the legislative history of the law through primary documents and compares it to similar laws passed in other countries over the past decade. It concludes that while the deposit of electronic materials was the primary justification for the new legislation, the legislators failed to craft the language of the new Books Act to reflect this goal. While some elements of the new law are a vast improvement over the older legislation, the Books Act is not suitable for meeting the challenges of preservation and documentation of cultural heritage in electronic formats.
ISSN:0740-624X
1872-9517
DOI:10.1016/j.giq.2008.01.005