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What is LOCKSS?
The LOCKSS project ('Lots of Copies
Keeps Stuff Safe') develops tools and
provides support to research libraries
so that they can easily and affordably
create, preserve and archive local electronic
collections. LOCKSS consists of
a distributed system of low-cost, persistent
digital 'caches' of authoritative
versions of Internet content. The accuracy
and completeness of LOCKSS
archives/caches are assured through a
peer-to-peer polling system (operated
through LCAP (Library Cache
Auditing Protocol), LOCKSS' communication
protocol).
Who is behind LOCKSS?
LOCKSS is supported by grants from
the National Science Foundation, the
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and
Stanford University Libraries, and
private donations. Victoria Reich,
LOCKSS' Director, is based at
Stanford University. LOCKSS
technology began testing in 1999.
Alpha testing included several
American universities (Stanford,
Harvard, Columbia, the Universities of
California and Tennessee, and Los
Alamos National Laboratories). The
first beta testing involved 50 libraries
worldwide and was completed in 2002.
The LOCKSS software is Open Source
and can be downloaded free of charge
from SourceForge, the Open Source
software development website.
Why does LOCKSS exist?
The LOCKSS Director states: "We
believe it is in society's best interest for
libraries to own rather than lease electronic
information and thus to retain
their traditional custodial role for
scholarly information. The LOCKSS
Program will build tools and provide
support to publishers so they can, without
risk to their business model or to
their publishing platforms, distribute
electronic journals to libraries and relinquish
responsibility to provide perpetual
access." LOCKSS is not restricted to
Open Access content, but it has great
potential to assist librarians who wish to
maintain their own local archives of
Open Access research, thereby contributing
towards the long-term digital
permanence of that material.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/lockss
http://lockss.stanford.edu
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