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The project aims to identify priority content from the perspective of the research library community and make significant progress towards increasing the number and extent of issued content of e-journals archived by major preservation programs. Ultimate goal is to develop and test methods to facilitate the continued expansion of e-journal preservation through ongoing assessment of priorities and documented practices to encourage and expand community engagement.

Project Impetus

Wiki MarkupThere are as many as 100,000 ISSNs assigned to e-serials, of which 28,000 to 48,000 are estimated to be for journal titles currently published in electronic form, depending on what is included (scholarly journals, newsletters and proceedings, government publications, etc.). There are many thousand additional, older titles that have been digitized and made available online for which an ISSN has not yet been assigned. The evidence shows that the extent of e-journal preservation has not kept pace with the growth of electronic publication. Studies comparing the e-journal holdings of major research libraries with the titles currently preserved by major agencies have consistently found that only 20-25%, at most, of the titles currently collected -- – let alone published -- – have been preserved. In early 2011, the libraries of Cornell and Columbia conducted a study as part of the 2CUL collaboration, and found, for example, that LOCKSS and Portico combine to preserve only a relatively small percentage of these libraries' e-journal holdings, less than 15% of Cornell's e-journal titles as a whole.\[[1]\|#_ftn1\] In the fall of 2012, a study using The Keepers Registry comparing the e-journal holdings of Columbia, Cornell, and Duke with the e-journals preserved by seven different agencies, yielded similar results, showing that only 22-27% of the subset of titles with an assigned ISSN had any volumes archived. Moreover, the extent of volumes archived for any given title varied greatly and was often sparse.\[[2]\|#_ftn2\] \\

Beyond the diversity of content, individual libraries, despite their concern for preservation, often lack effective means for taking action. One of the revealing findings of the 2CUL e-journal preservation study was that many staff at Cornell and Columbia only had a superficial understanding of the relevant preservation strategies and their implications – and of the roles of libraries in advancing the e-journal preservation front. Selection and acquisition processes may not involve any direct interaction with the publisher; many titles are acquired as parts of large packages, with no comprehensive provision for preservation. One of the proactive strategies proposed is developing language for a model license addressing preservation and sharing it with the publishing and library communities to set a timeline for implementation (e.g., in five years, all ARL libraries will aim to use the same licensing language). Also identified as critical was mobilizing advocacy to engage the key stakeholders and providing incentives for community-wide benefits. It is important systematically to engage publishers to address the problem and make this process transparent and public.

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1. The 2CUL study is available at: http://2cul.org/sites/default/files/2CULLOCKSSFinalReport.pdf

2. Burnhill, Peter, in press, . "Tales from The Keepers Registry: Serial Issues About Archiving & the Web," Serials Review (2013).. Volume 39, Issue 1, March 2013, Pages 3--20

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0098791313000178