Step 1 – Type of ePublication

What type of ePublication am I depositing?

The first step in making a deposit is to choose what type of electronic publication is being deposited - Monograph or Serial. If you are not sure if your publication is a monograph or serial here is some more information about each type.

Monograph

A publication that is complete in one part/volume or a pre-determined and finite number of parts/volumes. The most common example of a monograph is a book, however other examples include books in series, standalone reports, policy papers. Maps and music scores are also included as monographs for NED.
If your publication has an ISBN or ISMN then it will be a monograph. An ISBN (International Standard Book Number) and ISMN (International Standard Music Number) are unique identifiers for books and printed music that specify format, edition and publisher.
It is not mandatory for a monograph to have an ISBN or ISMN to be deposited with NED.
Once you have selected monograph you will then need to indicate what type of monograph you are depositing.
The online portal provides an option for the deposit of monographs that have a finite number of multiple parts (for example, reports with separate appendices). You will need to be logged in to access this option – see Create an account.

When you have uploaded the file for the first part of the monograph, and you move to the next step of the deposit process you will be able to upload the additional files.

Serial

A continuing publication which is issued under the same title in successive parts, usually numbered (or dated) and appearing at regular or irregular intervals with no predetermined conclusion. Examples of serials include journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and bulletins. Serials also include publications which may only be published yearly such as annual reports, directories, yearbooks, and gazettes.
If your publication has an ISSN, then it will usually be a serial. The ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) is a unique code for the identification of serial publications. It is a simple and accurate method of identifying a particular serial, even where there is more than one serial with the same or similar title.
It is not mandatory for a serial to have an ISSN to be deposited with NED.
You will need to create a new publisher and user account (if you don’t already have an account) the first time you deposit a serial publication using NED. This is so you can deposit subsequent issues of your serial.

What type of file formats are accepted?

If you are depositing a serial or the following types of monographs – book/books in series, music score or monograph (other) – the file formats that can be deposited with NED include:

.epub – the standard file format for ebooks in the publishing industry that enables them to be read on a wide range of devices.
.mobi – an ebook file format commonly associated with Amazon Kindle devices.
.pdf – one of the most used file types that preserves the look and layout of a document no matter which device or software you use to view it.

If your publication is available in more than one of these formats, our preference is .epub.

NED can now accept Portfolio PDFs, except for those with embedded audio-visual content, or with attachments in formats that NED does not accept, such as Microsoft Word and Excel.

If you are depositing a map the file formats that can be deposited with NED include:

.jpg/.jpeg - a widely used compressed image format for digital images that can be opened on many devices.
.tif/.tiff – an image format that is used when high quality digital images are required which can mean a very large file size.
Geotiff - image file types that are commonly used to store satellite and aerial imagery data, along with geographic metadata that describes the location in space of the image.
.pdf – one of the most commonly used file types that preserves the look and layout of a document no matter which device or software you use to view it.
Geospatial or georeferenced pdf – a pdf file with added information that relates the image of coordinates on a map.

NED cannot accept hardware carriers. Some member libraries may accept hard drives, CDs, USBs and other physical electronic media if the legal deposit item was originally published and made publicly available in this form.

Contact your member library to discuss options if you publish in a different format.

Is there a limit of file size?

Files must be under 500MB in size. If you have larger files, contact your member library for more information.

Do I need to upload a cover image?

When you upload your electronic publication file the NED portal will automatically generate a cover image based on your file. You can replace this automatically generated file with your own cover image file if you prefer. Even if you choose to upload your own cover image file, we recommend that you also include the cover image within the publication file for the best reading experience.

The cover image will be displayed as a thumbnail beside the file in Trove and member library catalogues. The addition of a unique cover image for every deposit improves accessibility in Trove.

If you upload your own cover image, the file formats that can be deposited with NED include:

.jpg/.jpeg - a widely used compressed image format for digital images that can be opened on many devices.
.tif/.tiff – an image format that is used when high quality digital images are required which can mean a very large file size.

We recommend that your cover image use the RGB colour mode, which is the primary colour mode for digital design. (While the NED system will accept images with a CMYK colour profile, it cannot currently display them online. You can edit the colour profile of your cover images using image processing software such as Photoshop.)

Files must be under 500MB in size.

Digital rights management and technological protection measures

Digital rights management (DRM) refers to any technical means used to restrict access to the publication. Technological protection measures (TPM) are often used to do this, such as encryption of files to proprietary locks or watermarks, or the use of passwords to lock PDFs.

Electronic publications deposited with NED need to be free of technological protection measures or digital rights management. This is mandated in the national digital legal deposit legislation and is required to enable the ongoing preservation of the publications.

If the NED service detects any DRM protections, viruses or if your file is larger than 500 MB, you will not be able to complete your deposit. You may need to request a DRM-free file from your publishing platform, remove a password from your PDF, or run a virus check on the file. Contact your member library if you are unsure.

How do I use the bulk deposit option?

If you have multiple publications, or a very large quantity to deposit, such as a backlist of electronic publications, you may want to use the bulk deposit option. You will find the ‘Interested in bulk deposit?’ link on the portal page where you choose what type of electronic publication you are depositing.

The first step is to complete the bulk items offer form. You will need to login with your NED account or create an account to complete the form. The form will ask for information about the publications you want to deposit including the type of publications, number of items, total file size, and range of publication dates for items being deposited and brief description of the content.

For bulk deposit of serial issues, you will need to have the serial title already set up in NED. Please note that you can deposit up to 12 issues of the same serial title at a time using the standard deposit option. Please see Can I deposit more than one issue at a time for more information.

Once the bulk offer form is submitted it will be reviewed by your member library. You will be contacted for further information about your bulk deposit offer, or to discuss other more suitable options to deposit your publications if appropriate.

When the bulk offer is accepted you will receive an email with a link to a bulk deposit form and instructions on how to complete your bulk deposit.

To check the status of your bulk deposit offer, login to your NED account and you will be able to see your bulk deposit offers in Manage my account.