OVERVIEW: The open-source LOCKSS software has been used for over twenty years to preserve academic journals, digital monographs, and other scholarly publications. But did you know that LOCKSS preservation networks are also providing tamper-resistant backups of federal records, collaborative web archiving for some of the nation's leading universities, and cost-effective statewide digital preservation services for memory institutions large and small?
In this panel session, we'll provide an overview of LOCKSS--the "lots of copies keep stuff safe" principle, the open-source software project that puts it into practice for digital preservation, and the Stanford-based program that continues to work with community-based preservation efforts--and case studies of established and emerging preservation networks using LOCKSS software to keep digital records accessible for future generations. These case studies will include the USDocs network, which leverages the Federal Depository Library Program to safeguard digital Federal Government resources for the people, by the people, and state-level efforts like the Michigan Digital Preservation Network and the Alabama Digital Preservation Network. We'll discuss the pros and cons of using LOCKSS networks and open-source tools over cloud-based or contracted preservation services, share the strategies that have helped some LOCKSS networks endure for decades, and present a checklist of criteria for determining whether a LOCKSS network might meet your agency's particular requirements for duty to preserve, data sovereignty, local-soil mandates, tight budgets, and other digital preservation dealbreakers.
Participants can expect to gain insight into how digital preservation networks can be built, grown, and sustainably maintained by communities--not just contractors and corporate service providers. Presenters will use accessible language to discuss the sometimes daunting topic of digital preservation, and will share practical lessons learned, models that have stood the test of time, and innovative solutions to problems that many NAGARA members share when it comes to managing digital records that must be preserved for the long term.
GARA CERTIFICATE CORE COMPETENCY AREAS: "Digital Repository Management" OR "Archives and Long-term Preservation"
TARGET AUDIENCE: Federal, Tribal, State, Local, and Public Institutions of Higher Learning
FOCUS AREAS: Technology Tools
PRESENTER(S): Snowden Becker, Community Manager, LOCKSS Program, Stanford University, James R. Jacobs, US Government Information Librarian, Stanford University, Representative from Alabama Digital Preservation Network (TBD)