WEST Cycles 12 & 13 Archiving Proposals Now Available for Review and Commitment

Every other year WEST conducts an analysis of members’ print journal and serial holdings to identify archiving priorities for the next two years. In fall 2021 WEST members began the process for the next archiving cycles, Cycles 12 & 13, by submitting files of their unarchived holdings for analysis. WEST is pleased to announce that the analysis is complete, and proposals for Cycles 12 & 13 archiving are now available for review and commitment in AGUA.

The Cycles 12 & 13 collections analysis incorporated a number of changes and modifications to WEST’s historical collections model and archiving priorities. 

A new data set, the HathiTrust Digital Library, is being leveraged to identify journals to archive at the Bronze level. This change led to a considerable increase in the number of journals eligible for archiving at the Bronze level, creating ongoing opportunities for Bronze Archivers to quickly build a print backup to the HTDL collection. 

At the same time, WEST focused its analysis on identifying journals in all Archive Types with very few holdings in the US (as reported to OCLC) and journals with few or no other copies retained for any other US shared print program (as reported to PAPR). This included a supplemental analysis of members’ holdings to identify journals that are considered to be higher risk due to little or no electronic availability (traditionally only archived by the Archive Builders), but which have historically been ineligible for archiving because they are not held by any of the Archive Builders. Due to the unique nature of the Cycles 12 & 13 analysis and archiving priorities, all members are strongly encouraged to commit to all Bronze proposals to support WEST’s goals securing these scarcely held journals. 

To support these priorities, all WEST members were invited to participate in the collections analysis as Archive Holders to provide WEST with deeper insight into their collections. This strengthened WEST’s ability to identify scarcely held journals that will benefit from shared print protections. WEST is making archiving proposals to several members that have historically participated as Non-Archive Holders for WEST, and will work with them to ensure they have the necessary support to participate in this new way.

To review your institution’s archiving proposals and submit archiving commitments, log in to AGUA and navigate to the Review Proposed Journals page. Please see the WEST AGUA User manual for instructions on reviewing proposals and making commitment selections. As a reminder, beginning with Cycles 12 & 13 the WEST definition of a backfile has been updated to v.1-2020; continuing existing practice, archiving Bronze up to the current year is preferred.

For a detailed overview of the Cycles 12 & 13 collections analysis with key findings and recommendations, please see the complete WEST Cycles 12 & 13 Collections Analysis Report.