1. E-Journals and Long Term Availability:
UK LOCKSS Alliance
Adam Rusbridge
UK LOCKSS Alliance Coordinator
EDINA, University of Edinburgh
8th and 9th April 2013
UKSG Conference, Bournemouth
2. Summary
• Goal of LOCKSS program: to help libraries build local
archives of web published content (journals, books)
• Trust in their own capacity to respond
• LOCKSS: Digital equivalent of the physical shelf
• UK LOCKSS Alliance: collaborative organisation to
coordinate and support stewardship
www.flickr.com/photos/guitarlogy/5387073471/
3. Sustainable Electronic Access Policies
• Sustainable e-only collections allow libraries to discard print and free
up space
• The library [can now] cancel or relegate print holdings that fit the definition of
sustainable electronic content, when at least one of the following applies:
• The library has perpetual access rights to the content, via the web, including those
titles archived by Portico and LOCKSS
• The journal is permanently open access for all years or certain years (Hybrid open
access journals are not included in this category).
• The content is in one of the library's trusted services such a JISC-funded archive.
• http://www.hud.ac.uk/library/policy/collectionmanagementanddevelopmentpolicy/#appendix2
4. Background to the LOCKSS Program
The LOCKSS Program is an open-source, library-led digital
preservation system built on the principle that “Lots of Copies
Keep Stuff Safe.”
• Libraries have a role as memory organisations
• Each institution builds collections on a local LOCKSS box
• Library staff administration – a few hours a month
• Periodically configure titles for collection in LOCKSS
• Consult with academics to determine priorities
• University has ownership of preserved content
• Library controls local access, even when they can’t access publisher copy
“The LOCKSS box is held locally and thus is under the control of the library. This involves some
maintenance and administration but significantly it also means that the library decides what to archive”
– University of Warwick Case Study
5. Community Action for Assured Access
• JISC funded UK LOCKSS Pilot Programme: 06-08
• UK LOCKSS Alliance: 08 – Present
• EDINA and Stanford: responsible for support, coordination, and software development
• Libraries: responsible for local infrastructure, contributions to policy
• A co-operative organization to ensure continuing sustainable access to scholarly work
over the long term.
15 member institutions Steering Committee to direct activity
De Montfort University
King’s College London
London School of Economics
Phil Adams (De Montfort University)
Natural History Museum Lisa Cardy (London School of Economics)
Open University
Royal Holloway, University of London
James Fisher (University of Warwick)
University of Birmingham William Nixon (University of Glasgow)
University of Edinburgh
University of Glasgow
Liz Stevenson (University of Edinburgh)
University of Huddersfield Lorraine Estelle (JISC Collections)
University of Oxford
University of Salford
Peter Burnhill (EDINA)
University of St. Andrews Adam Rusbridge (EDINA)
University of Warwick
University of York
6. UKLA: Collaborate to Build Infrastructure
• Local: JISC-funded Community Development Activities (2010–13)
• Build sustainable collections into university infrastructure
• Develop well-defined policies and practices
• Share information and engage with others
• National: Governance with UKLA Steering Committee
• Coordinate community and infrastructure
• Develop country-specific expertise
• Tailor support to local needs
• Consortially Managed Service layer
• International: development, coordination and collaboration
• Build software
• Recruit publishers
• Learn from others
“One of the keystones of the e-first policy is confidence in the preservation status of e-
journals. [LOCKSS] contributes to that confidence.”
– London School of Economics Case Study
www.flickr.com/photos/camilla_c/4131654840/
7. Technical Infrastructure
• Distributed LOCKSS Network
• Preserves content as published
• Preserves integrity
• Audit protocol to prevent damage
• Avoids point of failure
• Model on success of print collections
• Trust success of the library
9. Technical Infrastructure
• Distributed LOCKSS Network
• Preserves content as published
• Preserves integrity
• Audit protocol to prevent damage
• Avoids point of failure
• Model on success of print collections
• Trust success of the library
10. Why do we need e-Journal Preservation?
• Continued access in two specific scenarios:
• Library cancels subscription to (licensed) journal
• Library needs post-cancellation access
• Publisher no longer supplies access
• Library needs alternative source of supply
• Smaller publishers at greater risk: business model is less stable
• Build local collections to address both problems
www.flickr.com/photos/maistora/5446535870/
11. Accessing Content with LOCKSS
• LOCKSS integrates with link resolver software
• Support for: Ex Libris SFX, Serials Solutions 360Link, Innovative Interfaces
WebBridge, OCLC WorldCat Local
• Library can provide access as and when needed
• By default, LOCKSS forwards requests to publishers before serving content
• Serve from publisher if newer, LOCKSS if identical or unavailable
• Publisher retains hits and responsibility as a primary source
• Generate LOCKSS-specific COUNTER statistics so library can report usage
“LOCKSS addresses disruption to service in the short term as well as withdrawal
of access in the long-term”
– De Montfort University Case Study
www.flickr.com/photos/joeymade/3394428537
12. Principles of LOCKSS: Building Trusted
Archives
• Assured and licensed access to important, at-risk content
• Spread responsibility across the community
• Libraries keep what they buy
• Publishers preserve what they publish
• Readers have continual access
www.flickr.com/photos/guitarlogy/5387073471/
13. Find out more…
JISC Band Annual Fee
A £5,000
B £3,750
C £2,750
D £2,250
E-F £1,800
https://www.jisc-collections.ac.uk/Catalogue/Overview/index/879
• Case Studies: http://www.lockssalliance.ac.uk/participating-institutions/case-studies
• Publishers and titles: http://www.lockss.org/community/publishers-titles-gln/
• Now over 500 publishers!
http://www.lockssalliance.ac.uk
a.rusbridge@ed.ac.uk
@EDINA_eJournals
http://www.flickr.com/photos/codlibrary/2278168996/
14. Identifying Progress
1. How has the introduction of e-journal preservation services helped
libraries withdraw print collections and focus on e-journals?
• Institutions:
• Please describe the actions taken to address e-journal preservation and continuing
access concerns (including policy around sustainable e-collections)
• Community Bodies:
• Please describe how your organization is contributing to and supporting e-journal
continuing access activity
15. Future Requirements
2. How can institutions, community bodies and service providers best
work together to ensure sustainable, long-term initiatives?
• Sustainability: How can we collaborate to ensure long-term operations?
• Community Action and Support: How can services (e.g. Keepers Registry
and UKLA) best support community needs?
• Measuring Success: How can we analyse the landscape to identify gaps and
measure progress?
16. Business Continuity (Disaster Recovery) for Repository Content (UKRepNet)
Delivery Publisher Site Institutional Repository
Green
Content Gold OA
OA
Consortial Managed 5* Replicated LOCKSS
Archive
Service Data
Data
EDINA2
EDINA2
Data
Data Centre2
Centre2
EDINA
EDINA or
or TDR1
TDR1
Centre
Centre or
or
Other
Other Other
Other
Archive service + Archive service only
local ownership
Institution A Institution B
Client Institutional
Institutional
backup copy
backup copy
Editor's Notes
After cost, continuing access concerns were the main barrier hindering a sectoral shift to e-only journal provision JISC/RIN/PRC/RLUK “Barriers” report (2009): http://bit.ly/5GT6Ig
In the context of sustainable collection policies, building local collections is an effective tool to reduce the impact of the failure of external organisations.
Community http://www.flickr.com/photos/camilla_c/4131654840/
This shows an example title from BioMedCentral’s Cell Biology. It looks exactly the same as on the publisher’s site. The only thing that’s changed is the URL at the top – the content has been served from a LOCKSS box.