Since legal deposit regulations were introduced to the UK in the 17th Century, society has benefited from the systematic preservation of our written cultural heritage. In 2013 these regulations were expanded to incorporate non-print materials, an important addition that simultaneously secured much of the UK’s written digital heritage, and created several major challenges to institutional practices and end users.

As part of the AHRC-funded Digital Library Futures project, we hosted a one-day symposium, on 21 May 2019 at Cambridge University Library, on the present and future of Non-Print Legal Deposit. We launched the project white paper via a presentation that addressed the following key questions: What impact has the introduction of NPLD had upon academic deposit libraries? How are legal deposit collections currently used by researchers within the UK? And what does an empirical, user-driven account of NPLD tell us about the position of legal deposit in the digital age?

In the afternoon, we broadened out the debate, hearing from a diverse and exciting range of speakers who have been involved in various aspects of NPLD: there was lively discussion of the key opportunities and challenges posed by NPLD, and consideration of future directions for research into its impact, value, and long-term legacy.

Papers and presentations from the day can be found on the DLF’s Resources page.