The UK LOCKSS Alliance has published three case studies exploring the benefits of the LOCKSS approach for e-journal preservation.

The case studies confirm the value of the LOCKSS approach:  with an alternative source of supply under library control, the LOCKSS approach gives academics and librarians greater confidence in e-only journal environments.  Once a local LOCKSS archive is integrated with link resolver systems, the library has invested in a powerful tool for the preservation and continuing access of e-journal content.

Key highlights from the case studies include:

“The reliability of LOCKSS as a source of content to address short-term outages instills confidence in its reliability as a long-term preservation solution.” – De Montfort University Case Study

“The LOCKSS box is held locally and thus is under the control of the library. The library decides what to archive.” – University of Warwick Case Study

“It’s reassuring for users to see the content in the box as evidence that it is safely preserved and can be accessed.” – London School of Economics and Political Science Case Study

Case study participants were given an opportunity to discuss future development of the LOCKSS software, and we are happy to report that a number of the suggested improvements are being addressed as part of ongoing development. These include:

• Support for COUNTER statistics to demonstrate usage of LOCKSS content.
• Subscription Management mechanisms to integrate library catalogues with LOCKSS to aid development of archive collections.
• Shibboleth support to cater for off-campus access by library users.