WEST Membership

WEST members participate as supporting or full members. WEST member fee tiers are based on Average of NCES Total Library Expenditures (EXTOT) in 2012 and iPeds LEXTOT 2014.

WEST Member Types and Fee Tiers

Full members receive yearly collection comparison reports that identify the titles in their collections which have been archived by WEST, allowing them to quickly identify areas for review and opportunities for local space reclamation. All members have access to WEST-archived materials via interlibrary loan, and are added to the WEST Group Access Capability (GAC) upon membership.

All members benefit from access to the archives. All members support selection of titles, collections analysis, and active creation of print archives at six Archive Builders (high density storage facilities) throughout the region. All Members may also use the Journal Retention and Needs Listing tool (JRNL) to expose gaps in archives and make offers to fill gaps. Full members are additionally eligible to participate in the regional collections analysis and have the opportunity to serve as an Archive Holder. Participants in the collections analysis receive proposals for retention of deep backfiles and a custom collection comparison report.

Members are designated Archive Builders, Archive Holders, or non-archive holders. Archive Builders take an active role in building archives of high-risk materials, performing validation activities and soliciting volumes from the rest of the WEST membership to fill gaps in their holdings. Archive Builders are storage facilities that meet certain physical and environmental standards to ensure the safety and long-term availability of high-risk materials. Archive Holders retain lower risk materials, and are not required to perform any validation activities or fill gaps in their holdings. Non-archive holders do not hold collections for WEST, but are often asked to contribute volumes to Archive Builders and thus help ensure the integrity and coverage of the collections. More information about these options are available on the Contributing to the Archives page.

Members who hold archived materials for WEST are responsible for maintaining those collections for WEST even if their membership ends.