This op-ed makes the case for restoration of $47 million in funding that Congress cut from the budget of the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP). The program helps preserve born digital information. The funding cut "jeopardizes an additional $37 million in matching, non-federal funds that partners would contribute as in-kind donations."

• Preserving our digital heritage, by Jim Barksdale and Francine Berman, San Diego Union Tribune , May 17, 2007.

Some of the projects that were to be funded include preservation of important government records at the state level, such as legislative data and court records.

Jim Barksdale is former chief executive of Netscape Communications Corp. and is an executive member of the NDIIPP Advisory Council, and Fran Berman is director of the San Diego Supercomputer Center at the University of California San Diego.