More from HighWire: Archiving Statement

[Ann Okerson <ann.okerson@yale.edu>]

	Here follows HighWire's most recent statement of archiving
processes and prospects, of which LOCKSS is a part.  The announcement can
be seen at:

http://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/pr/00/000204highwire.html

____

February 4, 2000

HighWire Press ensures that online publications don't get lost in
cyberspace

	The Stanford University Libraries' HighWire Press announced today
that it has devised a comprehensive plan for preserving and assuring
access to the more than 170 scholarly journals it hosts on the web. The
plan addresses complex archival problems that can cause libraries and
other consumers to be hesitant about subscribing to online academic
journals.

	"Preserving and protecting information is one of the core
functions of libraries," said Michael A. Keller, Stanford University
Librarian and publisher of HighWire Press. "We are just as concerned with
the preservation of online journals as we are with preserving rare books
and manuscripts. The techniques are different, but the goal is the same:
to make sure the information remains available and accessible, now and in
the future."

	John Sack, associate publisher and director of HighWire Press,
said there is "no single 'big fix' to online archiving. There are many
layers that need to be coordinated over time, so it comes down as much to
organization as to technology. Online journals are particularly
complicated, as they involve volatile access or subscriber requirements
and a continuously growing body of articles and links, as well as the
'traditional' problems of changing technology for user devices, servers,
programs and storage."

	Sack noted that librarians are concerned with the continuity of
online journals. For example, if librarians drop their subscription to an
online journal, they want be sure they still can get access to the
electronic "back issues" for which they had paid. Librarians are also
concerned that electronic access could be curtailed in the event an online
publication � together with its Internet servers � goes out of business.

	Indeed, while there are many advantages to online publications,
new technologies raise altogether new issues.

	"There is the huge issue of evolving with the technology," Sack
said. "You have to keep the back volumes alive and compatible with their
successor issues, with server systems and software, and with user
software. To provide continuity, multiple, seemingly redundant approaches
are necessary. Our program includes three features: redundant and
distributed backups; forward format-migration; and distributed archiving."

	Sack emphasized the importance of keeping web links active and
growing. "Much of the richness of our online journal treatment is the
intelligent and automated linking, both backward and forward in time,
between articles � the continuum of predecessor and successor in the
literature made instantly apparent through live links and one-click
access," he said.

	"What one could call passive archiving � stuffing a body of
information in a can or putting it on tape, CD, microfilm or even paper �
is valuable in a limited way, but doesn't deal with the dynamism of the
online environment as we are now beginning to exploit it,"  he added. "If
you think of the problem in terms only of 'snapshots' or static storage in
some kind of vault, you're missing much of the functionality that most
journals and scientists sought in going from print to online."

	The HighWire archival program addresses immediate safety concerns
(hardware failures, destructive hacking, etc.) through rigorous
application of industry-standard protections of the "bits and bytes." This
involves redundancy and geographic dispersion, to ensure that no single
event can destroy data and all its copies. HighWire management stresses
that such protections against sudden problems are not enough.

	"The Stanford Libraries really are committed to the continuity of
the scholarly record," said Keller. "We are looking at HighWire's
archiving program from the point of view of the 22nd century at least, and
not just in terms of preserving the bits and bytes, but in terms of access
as well. Once a publisher instructs HighWire to enable access to a given
article or piece, the community should be confident it will be at least as
freely available in a decade or a generation as it is today. Scholars and
libraries should demand no less from any online source."

	For this reason, migration of formats, standards and media is a
fundamental issue addressed in the HighWire program. Production and
archiving processes at HighWire include preserving publisher-supplied
content and migrating data from printer formats to industry-standard
formats.  Data are stored on modern high-reliability devices that are on a
program of planned technology migration.
	
	Stanford University Libraries will assure the quality of the
HighWire Press digital preservation programs. Stanford � like libraries at
several other leading research institutions � is developing best practices
for preservation of "born digital" materials such as electronic journals,
digitally captured multi-campus events and the historical electronic
archives of the "dot.coms" and other technology companies that populate
Silicon Valley.
	
	Stanford University Libraries also has been instrumental in
creating LOCKSS � Lots of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe � a revolutionary,
distributed archiving model.  Now being developed in cooperation with Sun
Microsystems and with National Science Foundation funding, LOCKSS is a
freeware-based, voluntary approach to archiving online material that
relies on consensus among several linked servers to determine
authoritative states of files and restore lost or damaged files
automatically.

	LOCKSS will be released for a limited test among selected
institutions by summer 2000. "LOCKSS is an entirely different approach
compared to traditional computing backups," explained librarian Victoria
Reich, assistant director of HighWire Press and one of the originators of
the concept. "Itis designed to be uncontrollable by any single entity;
independent of any central authority; free of any single point of failure.  
Just as with printed books, lots of distributed digital copies keeps stuff
safe from natural disaster, political control or censorship."

	LOCKSS complements more conventional approaches by assuring the
survival of content independent of the possible demise, acquisition,
insolvency or default of the source.  Details about LOCKSS are available
at http://hwm.stanford.edu/pdf/archive.pdf. Questions or comments about
LOCKSS may be directed to Reich at (650)  725-1134.
	
	Complete information about HighWire Press and the journals
participating in the program can be found via the HighWire home page at
http://highwire.stanford.edu.

	Stanford's HighWire Press division provides advanced online
publication and access services to publishers and societies owning more
than 170 of the world's leading peer-reviewed scholarly journals in
science and medicine � including almost 40 of the top 100 most frequently
cited science and medical journals � and thus is significantly involved in
the provision of information to the world's research and academic
communities.

---end---