In an era where digital content preservation and access to scholarly publications are gaining increasing importance, the Controlled LOCKSS (CLOCKSS) program emerges as a prominent solution. CLOCKSS, available at https://clockss.org, is a not-for-profit, community-governed archive that ensures long-term access to scholarly articles and journals.
CLOCKSS functions as a decentralized archive, employing the LOCKSS (Lots Of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) preservation strategy. It aims to safeguard digital content by creating multiple copies dispersed among partnering institutions worldwide. This redundancy guarantees that if any institution becomes unavailable, others will ensure the perpetual accessibility of the content.
The uniqueness of CLOCKSS lies in its community-driven approach, where libraries, publishers, and scholars work together to build and sustain the necessary infrastructure. This collaborative effort ensures that both future generations and present researchers have the ability to access and cite scholarly works, even in the face of potential disruptions or loss of data.
Competing with CLOCKSS are other digital preservation initiatives, such as Portico and LOCKSS itself. Portico, established by the JSTOR organization, focuses on digital archiving for scholarly content, similarly utilizing a distributed network of participating libraries. However, CLOCKSS distinguishes itself through its core participatory model, empowering community members to actively contribute to the preservation and governance of digital content.
The LOCKSS program, the predecessor of CLOCKSS, shares similarities in its mission to preserve digital content, yet differs in its approach. While both initiatives employ the LOCKSS strategy, CLOCKSS improves upon its predecessor by integrating collective stewardship, creating a long-term solution that evades various vulnerabilities identified in the LOCKSS system.
As the demand for digital content preservation grows, CLOCKSS stands as a pioneering initiative, offering a community-driven approach to ensure the accessibility and longevity of scholarly publications. With its unique governance model and distributed archive, CLOCKSS is well-positioned to play a vital role in preserving the wealth of knowledge that the digital age holds.
Link to the website: clockss.org
