Contents |
[edit] Answers for Librarians
[edit] The Need
"Libraries have a central role in society as cultural and educational institutions, and as agents for promoting literacy. [They are] essential for better international understanding, and as such they are a fundamental precondition for peace, human rights, literacy, intellectual freedom, and a better environment for all peoples." (IFLA-1991)
Libraries serve communities, including nations by:
- Collecting documents as cultural artifacts, including all genres, formats, media;
- Providing intellectual access through interpretation and organization;
- Preserving artifacts for future community members.
In short, a library is a MEMORY organization.
The web and other emerging technologies are having a disruptive effect on libraries. Libraries now lease subscription materials and are also able to access free materials. But they are increasingly unable to own collections and fill their memory role.
This begs the question: do libraries have a future? A set of links is not a library. Without local collections, libraries will be reduced to digital concierges, linking to common digital objects, resulting in a reduction in diversity of available content. To address this, librarians must assert their societal memory role by selecting, building, preserving, and providing access to locally owned digital collections.
Digital publications increasingly are the version of record, and often represent the sole version of record. They change rapidly or disappear, with no warning. They have adjuncts - e.g., hyperlinks, virtual models. Failure to collect digital artifacts will create a growing "dark age" of our times.
[edit] Expanding on a Traditional Role
In a traditional paper-based library system, libraries act for their institution to acquire copies of important "stuff," keep copies on shelves, and give access to local readers. Libraries cooperate to exchanges copies for purposes of repair and replacement. Readers can easily find copies. "Bad guys" have trouble finding and destroying all copies. Libraries ensure content persists simply by supporting their local communities. The result: a cooperative, affordable, decentralized, preservation system with LOTS OF COPIES.
A LOCKSS library system functions in much the same way. Libraries still act for their institution to acquire copies of important "stuff." Instead of using paper, they keep copies in LOCKSS boxes, which cooperate with each other to detect and repair damage. They give access to local readers, and they make it difficult for bad guys to find and destroy all copies. Again, librarians, through LOCKSS, ensure content persists simply by supporting their local communities. The result: a cooperative, affordable, decentralized preservation system with LOTS OF COPIES, but this time, in digital format.
[edit] Why Use LOCKSS
Librarians are chartered with preserving access to the scholarly record for future generations. Their communities clearly want e-journals. However, there is a problem: content that libraries previously owned in paper has shifted to a rental model in the electronic version. A unilateral change of policy by the publisher or failure to renew a subscription can result in loss of electronic access to past material, with no recourse. To date there has been no mechanism to apply the traditional purchase-and-own library model to electronic materials. Librarians have lost the option to build and maintain local collections.
The LOCKSS model restores the ability to build local collections of electronic journals. The system allows librarians at each institution to take custody of and preserve access to the e-journals to which they subscribe, restoring the purchase model with which librarians are familiar. Using their own computers and network connections, librarians can obtain, preserve and provide access to a purchased copy of an e-journal. This is analogous to libraries' use their own buildings, shelves and staff, to obtain, preserve and provide access to paper journals.
Material stored in a local LOCKSS Box remains available to members of the library's local community even when the publisher goes away (due to merger, bankruptcy, subscription cancellation, network traffic, etc.). The content is never dark; it is always available to the local community. Installing and populating LOCKSS Boxes are actions librarians can take for themselves to serve their local community. LOCKSS must be affordable even to libraries with a limited budget, and thus the LOCKSS Program has emphasized utilizing affordable hardware and appliance-like software.
The benefits of restoring the traditional ownership of library materials and local control over collection choices outweigh the costs of maintaining the system and related equipment. We believe the costs of collection management will also prove to be affordable.
[edit] Building LOCKSS Collections
Building a library involves three basic tasks:
- Selecting and Building the Collection;
- Managing the Collection;
- Providing Access to the Collection.
These same three tasks are required to build local e-journal library collections using the LOCKSS system. This section offers a detailed look at what is required.
[edit] Selecting and Building the Collection
Electronic journals are accessed through institutional leases (subscriptions) or are freely available. Subscription journals and open access journals require slightly different collection development processes.
--OPEN ACCESS TITLES--
We recommend libraries, particularly those supporting research collections, collect and preserve all freely available titles that fit their collection development guidelines. A substantial and growing body of intellectual material is currently published through open access electronic journals.Small publishers using marginal business models produce most of this literature. This places it at immediate risk of loss; it has a low probability of surviving unaided for future scholar access. It is imperative that libraries form communities of interest and collaborate to collect and preserve this information. Fourteen large research libraries have initiated such an effort for the Humanities literature. Others are considering similar efforts for agriculture, newspapers, government documents, etc.
See: Working with Open Access Titles
--SUBSCRIPTION TITLES--
We recommend libraries collect and preserve all subscription electronic journals, including those purchased through consortia. Two actions are required:
- Using the web-based administration tools, configure your institutional LOCKSS Box to collect and preserve those subscription titles released to the system. See the list of titles.
- Collaborate with LOCKSS Alliance members to encourage other publishers to participate in the LOCKSS Program. For information regarding the status of current publisher conversations, contact us.
In order to preserve a title through the LOCKSS system, the following conditions must be met.
- The publisher has granted permission.
- The publishing platform for that particular title is supported by a LOCKSS plugin.
- There is a critical mass of libraries (at least six) that agree to collect and preserve the title.
[edit] Obtaining/Confirming Publisher Permissions
International law mandates that permission be obtained to collect, preserve, and provide access to copyrighted content. The LOCKSS system requires this permission to be obtained from the publisher. Normally this will be done by members of the LOCKSS Alliance, or by the first librarian who wishes to preserve a given title. In most cases, once a publisher grants LOCKSS permission for a unit of content (called an Archival Unit), this permission applies to all institutions with authorized access to that content.
Publisher Permissions:
- Required: Online permission for the LOCKSS system to crawl the content via a LOCKSS publisher manifest (example) or suitable Creative Commons license
The manifest is a web page that contains a permission statement, which applies to one or more Archival Units (typically a volume) and lists the URL(s) of the top-level of each Archival Unit.
- Suggested: Legal language giving librarians permission in a contract or terms and conditions statement.
This contract language should permit libraries to:
- Collect and preserve currently accessible materials;
- Use this material consistent with the original license terms;
- Provide copies for audit and repair to other authorized collections.
Publisher Permission Example:
http://highwire.stanford.edu/tfocis/guidelines.dtl
ARCHIVING: Publishers acknowledge that Institutional subscribers may participate in the LOCKSS system for archiving digitized publications. To benefit from this support, Institutional subscribers must install a LOCKSS Box at their Institution. (See http://lockss.stanford.edu for further information.) The Institutional subscriber may perpetually use the LOCKSS system to archive and restore Journal content, so long as the Institutional subscriber's use is otherwise consistent with these Guidelines. Publishers further acknowledge and agree that, in using the LOCKSS system, Journal content may be made available to other LOCKSS system participants who indicate a right to the subscribed Journal content.
Most publishers are happy to consider the LOCKSS program. LOCKSS is affordable, it fulfills librarians' demands for perpetual access, and many publishers want their content available to current and future scholars. The LOCKSS Alliance will facilitate publisher disclosure of permissions to minimize the community's discovery and transaction costs. Disclosed permissions apply broadly to libraries and do not require individual institution negotiation.
[edit] Building/Acquiring the Publisher Plug-in
Each publishing platform (HighWire, Atypon, Ingenta, Project Muse, etc.) requires a LOCKSS plugin. The plugin software tailors the LOCKSS system so that it works effectively and efficiently with a publisher's system.
The LOCKSS system handles the content it preserves in chunks called Archival Units or AUs. (For electronic journals this usually corresponds to a single volume.) Each Archival Unit requires a plugin to provide platform- or journal-specific knowledge, and is configured with whatever information is needed to specify a particular volume or other chunk of content.
The LOCKSS daemon (the heart of the LOCKSS system) is configured with a list of sources of plugins, which may be the local disk or HTTP servers on the network. The daemon loads the plugins it needs, based on the configuration information stored for each Archival Unit in its disks. Plug-ins are signed by their authors and others who vouch for them; librarians may decide which signers they wish to trust.
Depending upon the title and the publisher, plugin software is available from:
- Publishers,
- The LOCKSS Alliance,
- Library partners.
See also the Plugins page.
[edit] Confirming/Recruiting a Critical Mass of Colleagues
Maintaining a critical mass of titles (lots of copies) is essential to the safety and survivability of any one title. Consortium communities are natural safe havens for jointly purchased titles, titles of geographic interest, etc. Tentative data suggest that each title should have at least seven redundant copies on the LOCKSS system. The Alliance will facilitate libraries maintaining a critical mass for commonly held titles, and for titles of interest to the Alliance community
The Alliance will facilitate publisher communications for member libraries.
[edit] Managing the Collection
[edit] User Interface
The LOCKSS system is administered through a web interface.
[edit] System Costs
The costs of any computer system include software, hardware, and system administration.
LOCKSS software carries an open source license, and so is made available at no cost. However, we hope you will consider joining the LOCKSS Alliance to help support the transition from grant funding.
A LOCKSS Box is an internet appliance; it is easily installed and maintained. System administration of the LOCKSS appliance should require no more than an hour every several months.
Computer memory prices have fallen (since the 1960s) and continue to fall by 50%/year.
[edit] Providing Access to the Collection
[edit] Publisher's Access Control
LOCKSS Boxes collect content only when it is available to their IP address, and they receive repairs only when the damaged LOCKSS Box has proven it is reputable.
Authorized readers from an institution can access LOCKSS stored and preserved content when a publisher is not available for any reason (subscription canceled, network traffic, publisher server down). Library readers have perpetual, seamless access to content for as long as the LOCKSS Box is maintained.
[edit] Look and Feel to Readers
Content served from a LOCKSS Box will look exactly the same as content served from the publisher with one important exception. If the publisher's site is unavailable, content that normally changes whenever the reader presses the browser "reload" button (for example, ads) will instead be constant.
[edit] LOCKSS and Local Networks
Libraries will need to integrate their LOCKSS Box within their institutional network. See Integrating with Proxy Servers. The goal is to provide a local reader with easy, transparent access to materials stored in an institution's LOCKSS Box whenever these materials are not available from the publisher.
