WEST Cycles 8 and 9 Commitments Finalized

At the end of September, WEST members finalized their commitments for titles to be archived over Cycles 8 and 9, which will extend through spring of 2020. WEST continues to be a widely distributed effort for low-risk, Bronze titles, with 31 libraries making commitments to archive approximately 1,073 titles (795 journal families*) in place across the region. Bronze titles are characterized by the existence of trusted digital, full-text copies (Portico, CLOCKSS, and JSTOR). By virtue of the existence of trusted digital copies, physical validation is not required for Bronze titles (although some archivers may choose to validate Bronze materials on a voluntary basis).

WEST’s six Archive Builders** have committed to a wide spread of higher risk titles in the Silver and Gold categories. Over the next two years, Builders will physically validate and consolidate approximately 1,242 Silver titles (687 journal families) and 1,633 Gold titles (1,088 journal families). WEST Silver titles are those for which selected full-text electronic access is available through aggregator databases. Silver titles are physically validated at the volume-level for completeness. WEST Gold includes titles for which there is electronic abstracting and indexing, and titles identified as print only. Both Gold categories are physically validated at the issue-level for completeness and condition. Please see WEST’s Standards for Issue and Volumes Level Validation to learn more.

Disclosure for the first year of archiving work will take place in spring of 2019. Thank you to all members for your contributions to the development and support of the WEST archive!

*A journal family includes all identified related titles. 

**Archive Builders include Rice University, Arizona State University, UC Northern Regional Library Facility, UC Southern Regional Library Facility, Stanford University, and University of Kansas.