Libraries to pilot LOCKSS system for preserving online journals
Access to entire back runs of electronic journals could be lost to educational institutions when subscriptions are cancelled or when journals cease publication. Because libraries can only lease access to electronic journals, in contrast to their print equivalents, their assets are at risk and valuable online content is in danger of being lost.
Jisc, in partnership with CURL (Consortium of Research Libraries in the British Isles), today announced the institutions which will pilot LOCKSS – ‘Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe’ – a low-cost system devised at Stanford University that preserves access to a library’s online journals in a local ‘LOCKSS box’ in a manner acceptable to publishers. The chosen libraries will each keep copies of the journals they subscribe to and together they will ensure continued access to subscribed online journals even if a publisher should disappear, a journal cease publication, or the library end its subscription.
The participating libraries, selected after a tender process which began last December, will be supported by a LOCKSS Technical Support Service based at the Digital Curation Centre (DCC), through the provision of technical advice, software development and training. Negotiations to obtain publishers' permissions to allow LOCKSS-based archiving will be undertaken by Content Complete Ltd, Jisc's negotiation agent for the NESLi2 national e-journals initiative.
To see the full announcement, including the list of participating libraries, please go to: LOCKSS announcement