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Addressing the uncertain future of preserving the past

Towards a robust strategy for digital archiving and preservation

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By: Stijn Hoorens, Jeff Rothenberg, Constantijn van Oranje-Nassau, Martin van der Mandele, Ruth Levitt

Storing and curating authentic academic literature and making it accessible for the long term has been a time-honoured task of national libraries. By guarding existing knowledge and facilitating its use to produce new insights, national and university libraries have formed an integral part of the research environment, complementing the roles of other stakeholders such as researchers, publishers and funders. However, recently the digital revolution has modified fundamentally the way that research results are circulated, reviewed, accessed and preserved. Hitherto established models of market dynamics and stewardship need to be rethought and part of the responsibilities of national libraries redefined. This document examines key determinants of the sustainable digital preservation of scholarly records, with specific reference to developing a robust approach to the archiving of such records at the Koninklijke Bibliotheek in The Netherlands.

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Contents

Chapter One:
Introduction

Chapter Two:
A brief history of preserving the digital past

Chapter Three:
Scholarly dissemination and publishing: a complex and dynamic environment

Chapter Four:
Digital archiving and preservation: an area under construction

Chapter Five:
The uncertain future of preserving the past

Chapter Six:
Strategy implications for KB

Appendix A:
Summary of key assumptions underpinning the e-Depot strategy

Appendix B:
List of interviewees

Appendix C:
The technological basis for digital preservation

Appendix D:
12 e-journal archives compared

Appendix E:
Stakeholders’ views and positions on scholarly communication and publishing

Appendix F:
Stakeholders’ views and positions on preservation

The research described in this report was prepared for the Koninklijke Bibliotheek and was conducted by RAND Europe.

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