WEST Update Delivered to the CRL Print Archives Network Meeting at ALA Midwinter 2014
The Western Regional Storage Trust (WEST) has entered into its second three-year implementation phase with the support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Between 2013 and 2016, WEST libraries will undertake two more archiving cycles, conduct strategic planning and assessment and develop additional systems capabilities to improve archiving.
WEST’s archiving status to date and planned future archiving:
| Cycle | Journal Families | Volumes | Statuses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cycle 1 (2011-2012) | 4,300 | 160,000 (38,000 validated Silver/Gold) | Complete, disclosed |
| Cycle 2 (2012-2013) | 2,753 | 94,500 (48,000 validated Silver/Gold) | Complete, disclosed |
| Cycle 3 (2013-2014) | 3,000 | 94,000 (54,000 validated Silver/Gold) | In process, committed |
| Cycle 4 (2013-2015) | TBD | 60,000 validated Silver/Gold, additional Bronze | Planned |
| Cycle 5 (2014-2016) | TBD | 60,000 validated Silver/Gold, additional Bronze | Planned |
| Total | 15,000+ | 468,500 volumes |
In the upcoming months, WEST will conduct strategic planning to make programmatic changes and identify potential new services for subsequent years. A key objective will be to reach sustainability as a fully member-supported program in 2016. Strategic planning will involve a combination of in person meetings of WEST’s governance committees and webinars with WEST members. To support this planning, WEST will conduct two assessments to evaluate the WEST program and collections. The assessments will inform any future changes to the program.
During this next phase, WEST will also develop some additional systems capabilities to improve archiving. Capabilities under consideration include support for a title nominations process, a Needs and Offers tool to fill gaps in archives and a collection analysis dashboard to facilitate title commitments and unmediated use of reports by WEST members and analysts.
WEST is also exploring models and requirements for incorporating other print archives’ retention commitments into its decision-making. A collections working group is developing criteria for when to duplicate or avoid duplication in print archives. The group may develop recommendations for coordination among print archives at the programmatic level and in collection analysis decision-support reports produced by the PAPR collection analysis system.
Website: http://www.cdlib.org/west
PAPR registry: papr.crl.edu
Contacts: Emily Stambaugh (emily.stambaugh@ucop.edu); Lizanne Payne (lizannepayne03@gmail.com); and Danielle Watters Westbrook (danielle.westbrook@ucop.edu)