A registry of archived electronic journals

Abstract

Concerns about e-journal archiving have increased in recent years.There is no central list of archived titles and there are inconsistencies in the information available about them. This makes it difficult for journal collection managers to take decisions on discarding print back runs and moving to electronic only subscriptions. In 2007, the UK’s Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) commissioned a scoping and feasibility study for a registry of archived e-journals. The study involved desk research, interviews and workshops. The study found that there is a perceived need for more, easily accessible, information about archived e-journals. However, librarians expect a solution which goes beyond simply recording where a journal title is archived and tracking changes over time. Librarians need to understand, and be reassured about, their access route to journals if their normal route is unavailable. In addition, the archives and the registry must be sustainable over the long term.