JISC

E-prints and institutional repositories are a new and high profile area, both for the JISC and for institutions in the UK and elsewhere. The initial focus of activity has been on the process of establishing repositories, depositing articles and promoting discovery and access, together with an emphasis on encouraging the cultural change necessary for successful development of e-print repositories. This focus is reflected in the JISC funded Focus on Access to Institutional Resources (FAIR) programme. However, if the e-print content of these repositories is to continue to be made available into the future, the concept of preservation needs to be bought into the equation.

Executive Summary 

Background 

This Requirements and Feasibility Study on Preservation of E-Prints seeks to do just this, providing recommendations for further research and the development of services and tools to support the long-term preservation of UK e-print content, in the context of the JISC Information Environment (IE) and the JISC Continuing Access and Digital Preservation Strategy 2002-5 (Beagrie, 2002).

The Continuing Access and Digital Preservation Strategy 2002-5 details JISC’s continued commitment to the development of the digital preservation agenda within the UK Higher and Further Education sectors. The strategy revolves around the need to move from research to service delivery as the volume and significance of digital resources continues to grow. An initial target of the strategy has been to complete digital preservation risk and retention criteria assessments during 2002 and 2003. This study is one of the series of assessments initiated under the strategy.

Reasons to Preserve E-Prints

A recurring sentiment we found during this study was that the requirements for running successful e-print repositories in the long-term are still being formulated, and that e-print repository managers have yet to fully engage with the challenges of digital preservation. UK e-print repository managers are aware of the need to consider preservation, but are unsure of how to proceed, and are looking for guidance.

Not all e-prints need be preserved. Some e-prints are early drafts of papers that are superseded with later versions; some authors are not interested in keeping their work for posterity; the intellectual property rights held in some existing e-prints may not be stated clearly enough to permit their long-term retention. Five criteria can be identified that provide a basis for determining if the long-term preservation of an e-print should be considered: 

• The e-print provides wider and/or more convenient access than alternatives such as published journal papers 
• The e-print is cited by other scholars 
• The e-print contains unique information, not recorded elsewhere 
• The e-print forms a significant part of the research record (for example, early drafts of important research) 
• The e-print is part of a wider collection deemed worthy of preservation

The criteria above are offered as the basis for discussing the archival appraisal of e-print collections. To make practical use of these criteria, repository managers will need to develop objective measures that take account of local conditions and the interests of relevant stakeholders. Key considerations will include authors’ wishes regarding retention period, which may be ascertained at deposit through a formal e-print deposit agreement, and reader’s wishes regarding continued availability of e-prints (especially preprints not available elsewhere). These are very likely to vary between research communities, particularly if scientific subjects are compared to the humanities. The role of e-print repositories within wider institutional information management policies will also be important, as the preservation of e-prints, like any other digital material, will require a steady long-term commitment of resources.
There are only approximately 5,000 readily identifiable e-prints currently housed in subject based or institutional repositories within the “.ac.uk” domain. Consequently the preservation of the current UK e-print collection should not be the main concern. Instead, this report makes recommendations focused on improving current e-print repository practices so as to reduce the preservation risks associated with e-prints collected in the future.

Read the final report below