Roundup: Computer Equipment Failure Makes Some Library of Congress Online Services Unavailable For About a Week

UPDATE September 6 Copyright Registration Systems Are Back Online

From the U.S. Copyright Office:

Systems of the United States Copyright Office are back online as of 8:00 am, Sunday, September 6, 2015 and customers may resume submitting registration applications electronically.

As previously reported, on Friday, August 28th, the Library of Congress shut down a data center that hosts a number of agency technology systems, including the Copyright Office’s electronic registration program.  This was done to accommodate a two-day annual power outage scheduled by the Architect of the Capitol, which owns and maintains Library buildings.  On Sunday, August 30th, the Library attempted to reopen the data center, but was unable to bring copyright systems and other agency functions online as planned.  Both Library and Copyright Office staff have since worked around the clock to assess problems and solutions and ensure the ongoing integrity of Copyright Office data.

Thank you for your ongoing patience.

The National Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped BARD database continues to be unavailable as of Sunday, June 6, 2015 at 9 a.m.

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From The Washington Post:

The computer failures at the Library of Congress that have crippled the U.S. Copyright Office since last week also have shut down the electronic services of the National Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.

That office’s Braille and Recorded Books, or BARD service, has not worked since Tuesday, preventing thousands of visually impaired readers across the country from accessing materials.

[Clip]

The Library of Congress scheduled system outages last weekend for routine maintenance, officials said. But when that work was complete, officials were unable to bring back several critical systems at the library, the federal agency that houses several offices, including the Copyright Office, the Congressional research and law libraries, and the national service for the blind and disabled.

Read the Complete Article

See Also: Copyright Office’s Online Registration Hasn’t Worked For Almost a Week (via Washington Post, September 2, 2015)

Official Statement Posted on LC Web Site (as of 9/3/15)

Library Websites Experiencing Outages

The Architect of the Capitol conducted scheduled annual maintenance on the Library’s James Madison Building Saturday, Aug. 29. This maintenance involved building-wide power outages, resulting in several public Library websites being taken off line. Due to an equipment failure that occurred during startup, some functions of our website are currently unavailable.

We regret the inconvenience to our users and are working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible while maintaining the integrity of the systems.

See Also: Statement From U.S. Copyright Office  (September 3, 2015)

See Also: Statement from U.S. Copyright Office (September 1, 2015)

See Also: Library of Congress’ Latest Tech Stumble: Copyright System Down for a Week (via NextGov)

See Also: Statement from the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS)

We regret that BARD [Braille and Audio Reading Download] is currently experiencing difficulties. At the present time we have disabled BARD until we can resolve the technical problem. The status as of 4:45 pm EDT 9/4/2015 is that the technical staff at NLS and the Library are endeavoring to return BARD to service as soon as possible. We will keep you posted with new information as we receive it.