WEST Archives

The WEST archives represent the member institutions’ diverse collections, and are created through careful analysis of titles with an eye toward supporting space reclamation by identifying journals held by large numbers of members as well as securing retention commitments for materials with few electronic access points to ensure ongoing access to their content. Over 40 member institutions act as Archive Holders, retaining materials on behalf of the membership. A select number of members, called Archive Builders, perform additional work on titles with few electronic access points that are deemed to be higher risk, including validating the physical materials for completeness and, in some cases, condition, and moving volumes into storage areas with regulated access and environments. All Archivers agree to hold their retained titles through December 31, 2035, providing members a highly reliable archive they can compare their local collections against and rely on to fulfill ongoing access needs. Archived materials are disclosed in OCLC and in the Center for Research Library’s Print Archive and Preservation Registry (PAPR) to make these commitments public to the wider scholarly community.

A full list of all WEST-archived journals is available through the WEST program page on PAPR.