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[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.
[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.
[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.
[edit] Building LOCKSS Collections
To build a collection, a library needs to select the titles it wants to preserve (subscription or open access), obtain or confirm the publishers' permission to preserve the titles in the system, make sure there is a critical mass of institutions preserving the titles of interest, and build a "LOCKSS plugin" specific to the publishing platforms of the titles, which can also be acquired from LOCKSS for some of the publishers.
[edit] To Learn More
To learn more about the LOCKSS system and how it works, visit our How It Works page.
