Re: Archiving Policies

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

Karen Hunter of Elsevier sent the following message a few days ago.  We
apologize not to get it to the list sooner, but we had some "attachment-
reading" problems, so here's the message in ASCII form.  Your thoughts?
Any other policies to share?

Any of the librarians have electronic archiving policies or requirements
of vendors?

_______________________________________________________________________

Date:  October 29, 1999 		Contact:  Karen Hunter
					Senior Vice President
					Tel: (1) 212 633-3787
					k.hunter@elsevier.com

For Immediate Release

A COMMITMENT TO ELECTRONIC ARCHIVING

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS and NEW YORK, NY, USA -- Elsevier Science 
announces its new policy on permanent archiving of electronic journals.  
Elsevier will maintain the journals offered through ScienceDirect�, its host 
service, in perpetuity.  The archives will be migrated, as the technology for 
storage, display or access changes, and an internal production archive 
separate from the ScienceDirect distribution platform will ensure redundancy 
and the ability to recreate the files in case of disaster.

    The present ScienceDirect server holds over 700,000 articles from 
Elsevier Science journals and expands at a rate of 25,000 articles per month. 
The current format standards are SGML and PDF, and most files are retained 
in both formats.

    Elsevier Science understands the importance to its library customers of  
providing a secure electronic archive in the transition from paper to 
electronic.  Therefore, the company also makes the commitment that, in the 
unlikely future event that Elsevier Science (or ScienceDirect itself) should 
be unable to meet this responsibility, the archive will be turned over to one 
or more depositories chosen jointly by the publisher and an independent board 
of library advisors.

    In addition, the company is in active discussions with librarians and 
other parties about additional ways to achieve the level of assurance that 
librarians need with respect to long-term access to electronic journals.

    Derk Haank, Chief Executive, Elsevier Science, indicates, "Libraries have 
a long tradition of building an archive of the published record and they do 
not want to endanger that in the move to the electronic medium.  We are 
keenly aware of our responsibility to assure both our subscribers and authors 
that the journal literature be available and accessible indefinitely."

    Elsevier Science is the world's largest publisher of scientific, 
technical and medical journals.  ScienceDirect, a unit of Elsevier Science, 
is the world's most comprehensive full-text scientific database and offers 
electronic access to more than 1,000 journals.  At its core, ScienceDirect 
includes journals from Elsevier Science as well as other leading scientific 
publishers and an expanding suite of secondary databases.  Elsevier Science 
is part of Reed Elsevier plc, a leading provider of information to the 
scientific, legal and business communities.

    For further information about Elsevier Science's policy on electronic 
archiving, contact Karen Hunter.

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