As an example the Australian Digital Theses Program aims to establish a distributed database of digital versions of theses produced by the postgraduate research students at Australian Universities. Dublin Core metadata is automatically generated out of the deposit form for each thesis deposited. The Australian Digital Theses Program currently uses PDF format for document storage, which has severe limitations as an electronic document format. The Open eBook Publication Structure . However, a widely accepted XML based format is not yet available.
Librarians have a central role to play in ensuring future access to digital materials.
XML has the potential to provide lasting format, but requires research and standards work. Librarians are in the business of organising online resources. A collection of material, even material available free from the web can in itself become a valuable new work. PictureAustralia , which provides integrated access to the image collections of a number of Australia's cultural institutions provides a preview to the future. The National Library of Australia hosts PictureAustralia, but the pictures can be located at any of the cultural institutions.