The Sense/Net Library
Deposits with Lazarus
A deep store can keep a tape for a century. It cannot keep the machine that plays it. Since 2009 the Library has deposited copies with an archive that can.
- Partner since
- June 2009
- Deposits
- 2,231 to October 2026
- Kind
- Copies only; masters stay in Ashworth
What we deposit
Lazarus is the digital preservation programme of Frothly, the research institute. It recovers software and records from failing media and dead formats and keeps them, verified, where they can still be opened. The Library deposits two kinds of thing with it: retired products, meaning the playback software, editing tools and firmware the company no longer sells or supports; and out-of-commerce recordings, copies of titles no longer in distribution whose performers have agreed to their deposit.
The rules we keep
- Deposits are copies. Masters stay in Ashworth.
- A recording is deposited only if every performer in it, or their estate, has agreed.
- A performer who withdraws a title from public access can have its deposited copy restricted as well. We ask Lazarus to restrict it the same day, and it does.
- We do not deposit consent sessions, the Breath or Heart tracks on their own, or anything a performer has asked us not to.
| Year | Deposits | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 212 | The playback software for every Sense/Net home player sold from 1991 to 2008. |
| 2010 | 141 | |
| 2011 | 96 | |
| 2012 | 88 | |
| 2013 | 104 | |
| 2014 | 117 | |
| 2015 | 132 | Firmware of the headpieces before Fullfield. |
| 2016 | 109 | |
| 2017 | 98 | |
| 2018 | 72 | |
| 2019 | 81 | Ten years; 1,206 deposits by June. |
| 2020 | 77 | |
| 2021 | 102 | |
| 2022 | 119 | |
| 2023 | 148 | |
| 2024 | 171 | First Kestrel Hill titles. |
| 2025 | 188 | |
| 2026 (January to October) | 176 | The Vance reels, counted as one deposit of 1,312 reels. |
| Total | 2,231 |
The catalogue
Lazarus lists the Library’s deposits in its online partner catalogue as they are catalogued and restored. Not every deposit is listed: Lazarus has been re-cataloguing its records since a migration of its index in August 2026, and more of ours will appear as that work continues.