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Re: Perpetual Access 

On Thu, 28 Aug 1997 08:25:03 -0400 (EDT) Tina Long said:
>
>CSA grants perpetual strorage rights to our Internet Database Service
>subscribers for our proprietary data (we have a number of non-proprietary
>files available on the service as well) at no additional fee.  As a
>subscriber to CSA databases via the Internet, our clients are entitled to
>retain the information that corresponds to the number of years the
>customer was a paid subscriber.  Should a subscriber decide to terminate
>the service at any point in time, CSA would provide the institution with
>the information corresponding to each of the years to which the instiution
>subscribed.  We offer this service as a means of enabling libraries to
>maintain archival continuity within the groups collection in this
>electronic age.
>
>Tina Long
>Cambridge Scientific Abstracts


But, is CSA offering perpetual access or just archiving rights to the
data?  The former is what is needed if this version of the data is the
only one the library has due to cancellation of print version.  The latter
fulfills the library's desire to insure that a permanent record exists,
but what good does it do the user who needs to know what is on that stored
tape?

We have two purposes that need to be addressed in our licenses and need to
be careful that we aren't sacrificing one for the other.

Related to all of this discussion is the issue that precipitated the
discussion within my organization: the fact that these databases are being
paid for from funds that are to be expended on operating capital.  That
is, on concrete things that the library can keep in its possession until
it decides they aren't needed anymore.  I don't know how other publicly
funded institutions state funds are categorized, but in Florida they are a
special kind of OCO (operating capital outlay) that has most of the same
spending criteria as OCO to be spent on furniture, equipment or other
durable goods.  I feel particularly certain that perpetual access is a
requirement when we have physical possession of the data and we use our
own computing, networking and personnel resources to make that data
available to our users.  Perpetual access for something we just route our
users to via the open Internet is a little less clear to me.  But if we
have it, then I want to get data that I can mount on my own system and
continue to serve up to my users.

  --Michele
******************************************************************
Michele Newberry
Assistant Director for Library Services               352/392-9020
Florida Center for Library Automation (FCLA)      fax 352/392-9185
2002 NW 13th Street, Suite 320                 http://www.fcla.edu
Gainesville, FL 32609                   fclmin@nervm.nerdc.ufl.edu
******************************************************************


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