WEST: Western Regional Storage Trust
The Western Regional Storage Trust (WEST) is a distributed retrospective print journal repository program serving research libraries, college and university libraries, and library consortia in the Western Region of the United States. Under the WEST program, participating libraries consolidate and validate print journal backfiles at major library storage facilities and at selected campus locations. The resulting shared print archives ensure access to the scholarly print record and allow member institutions to optimize campus library space. This collaborative regional approach to managing library collections represents an important step, when joined with other initiatives, toward development of a highly trusted network-level shared print archive. To learn more about how WEST is working to maximize network-level analysis as well as regional and national collaboration, please see WEST Vision, Mission, and Guiding Principles and Value of WEST Infographic.
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Current Work and Future Milestones
| Dates | Milestones |
|---|---|
| January 2025 – Fall 2025 | AGUA systems development (new features and enhancements) |
| Spring 2025 | Members submit Cycle 14 disclosures |
| Summer 2025 | Members receive annual comparison reports |
| Summer 2025 – Spring 2026 | Cycle 15 archiving! |
| Fall 2025 |
Members submit unarchived serial bib & holdings data for analysis Cycles 16/17 collections analysis preparation |
| Spring 2026 | Members submit Cycle 15 disclosures |
| Summer 2026 |
Cycles 16/17 collections analysis Members receive annual comparison reports Members receive Cycles 16/17 archiving proposals |
Quick Facts
WEST is…
- 61 academic and research libraries west of the Mississippi
- 46 Archivers in 18 states
- 38,000 unique titles
- 833,000 volumes
- 67,000 assignable square feet / 2,000 seats for users
- Partnerships with regional and national shared print initiatives
WEST Collections At-A-Glance
This map shows the distribution of the WEST archives across the western region of the US. To interact with the map and other WEST collections data, see WEST’s Tableau Dashboard.
This chart shows the number of journals in WEST divided by the validation actions taken, and the percentage of the total collection they represent.
- No physical validation, trusted digital surrogates available: 16,367 journals (44.63% of total WEST collections)
- Physically checked for completeness at volume level: 9,357 journals (25.51% of total WEST collections)
- Physically checked for completeness and condition at issue-level: 10,950 journals (29.86% of total WEST collections)
The chart shows the Library of Congress classification breakdown for the WEST archived collections. The chart’s underlying data is also available.
Related Services
AGUA
AGUA is a web based service that provides key collection data to the Western Regional Storage Trust (WEST) and UC Libraries Shared Print Initiative.
| Name | Title | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Wohlers, Alison | WEST Program Manager & CDL Shared Print Manager | View profile |
| Worth, Nika | Shared Print Analyst | View profile |