Survey About Digital Book/Journal Preservation

Sharing a survey from Tony Ageh and Chris Durlacher about preservation of digital materials. It will best be answered by someone who knows the licenses your system signs. Only one response per system, please!

E-PUBLICATION PRESERVATION SURVEY

Are our collective digital preservation efforts sufficiently prioritized and resourced such that we can be confident that the e-publications of today will be accessible to future generations, just as the print publications of the past are accessible to us? Or is there a real danger that a significant proportion of today’s publications could be lost forever?

This important research project is funded by the Arcadia Fund - a charitable foundation that works to protect nature, preserve cultural heritage and promote access to knowledge. As libraries increasingly shift from purchasing printed copies to the licensing of digital material, Arcadia is concerned at the future impact this will have on libraries and their ability to ensure long term access to their collections, to out-of-commerce and, in time, out-of-copyright copies of these essential works.

With particular reference to libraries in US, Canada, EU and UK, this is a survey of the preservation arrangements between libraries and publishers that will ensure that digital publications - e-journals and e-books - are being adequately safeguarded, so that this knowledge can be discovered and accessed by future generations. The responses will inform a landscape analysis describing the current context for preservation of e-publications, to inform a set of recommendations for Arcadia to consider in terms of next steps and further investigation.

It should take less than ten minutes to complete the survey, which is being sent to you as the recognised representative of your library. (Although you may remain entirely anonymous should you choose and are not required to give your name or your organization.) You may also skip any questions you feel unable to answer at this time.

You may complete the survey yourself or forward it to whichever colleague is most knowledgeable about your library’s licensing contracts with publishers. However, please ensure you don’t both complete the survey. The survey requires only one result per library to get the best gauge of the situation.

As soon as possible, after the report has been delivered to Arcadia, the results of this survey will be made available to all those who took part. To assist this, we have asked for a name and an email contact, but remember, the survey gives you the option to skip this page and remain entirely anonymous, and we will happily share our findings with you on request.

Thank you for your time, and here is the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HMZ7T3W

About the researchers:

Tony Ageh until recently was the Chief Digital Officer of the New York Public Library and before that the BBC’s Controller of Archive Development. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Ageh)

Chris Durlacher is a documentary filmmaker who has produced films for many of the world’s major broadcasters, often based on evidence preserved in various libraries and archives. (www.chrisdurlacher.net)