Archived Content
Materials archived include low-use print journals from member institutions, including journals for which reliable digital copies are available. As of January 2017 the archived title list exceeded 28,000 unique ISSNs of which 5100+ are held by two or more locations.
Holdings Data and Disclosure
In the second half of 2017 Scholars Trust submitted over 35,500 for inclusion in the PAPR database. The records included the following fields:
- JRNL ID
- OCLC number
- ISSN
- Title
- Managing library
- Location
- Holdings.
A list of the titles committed is also maintained, and regularly updated, in the JRNL database and on the Scholars Trust website.
Scholars Trust libraries uses database software developed at the University of Florida for the FLARE archiving program, called JRNL to track archived titles and identify missing volumes. JRNL provides participants with an aggregated set of comitted serial title holdings that they can use to identify volumes at other participating institutions that will fill gaps for titles they have committed to preserve. JRNL is used by FLARE, WEST, WRLC and ASERL.
Individual data sets are uploaded to JRNL using an EXCEL spreadsheet. Information uploaded by the participating institution includes the ISSN, title, holdings and circumstances of storage, and the access policy for these archived journals. These titles and holdings are then available to other Scholars Trust participants who can identify volumes that they need for their collections. Participants can also receive a report of the titles already committed and housed in storage facilities with their circumstances and conditions of use (e.g. circulation status, etc).
Scholars Trust has shown a commitment to improve their data. In the first data deposit to PAPR some Scholars Trust records had incorrect OCLC numbers. This was because they used the ISSN number rather than the OCLC number as a required data element in JRNL, and so data in that field was not verified. This problem was corrected when the OCLC number became a required JRNL field instead of the ISSN. After submitting data to PAPR, Scholars Trust worked with CRL staff to establish a system of correcting data errors, and has agreed to make all corrections as part of a regular schedule of updates to the PAPR database. Scholar's Trust has committed to a quarterly export of title records to the PAPR Registry.
Validation of Holdings
As of 2015, Scholars Trust did not require validation of content committed to the program, although a concerted effort is made by archiving libraries to identify and fill gaps in title holdings. Records are detailed and many include information about supplements and special issues.
Program History and Stakeholders
Scholars Trust began in 2011 with ASERL's cooperative journal retention program called J-Retain. The goal was for ASERL participating members to retain print journals that would be shared across the consortium. Twenty-five of ASERL's thirty-eight member libraries signed the original agreement to retain titles.
In 2012 ASERL partnered with Triangle Research Libraries Network's (TRLN) print archive program. TRLN's Cooperative Print Retention program was created in 2008 to share print journals among the four TRLN libraries. TRLN's committed titles became a subset of the new ASERL Cooperative Journal Retention Program.[2]
In 2013 the Association of Southeast Research Libraries (ASERL) and the Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC) created the Scholars Trust Cooperative Journal Retention Program. The Program combines the contents of ASERL's J-Retain program and WRLC's print journal archives under a single retention and access agreement. The Scholar's Trust agreement extended reciprocal priority Inter-Library Loan (ILL) services across the groups involved. In December 2016, ASERL and WRLC unanimously approved revisions to the their ILL Agreement which provides no-fee, priority service to each other’s resource sharing requests. The revised guidelines are available on their website.
In addition to the TRLN partnership, the journals from the FLARE collection, a collection of print serials supported by the Council of State Libraries of Florida and housed at the University of Florida's print repository were also contributed to the ASERL project.
Scholars Trust works with the Rosemont/Thinking Bigger Initiative whose members include FLARE, the Big 10 Academic Alliance (BTAA) and the Western Regional Storage Trust (WEST) to ensure the preservation and availability of print journal literature.
Organization, Decision-Making and Planning
Scholar's Trust instituted a formal governance system in February of 2016[3]. The new structure includes two governing bodies, a Governing Council, and a Steering Committee.
The Council is constituted from the existing programs, and has one voting representative for each ten participating libraries. The executive director from each consortium sits on the committee as a non-voting member. The Governing Council is responsibile for developing the overall strategy for Scholar's Trust.
The Steering Committee manages and oversees the initiatives, activities and operations of Scholar's Trust. The steering commitee is constituted of three constorium representatives. Two of ths representatives are from participating libraries and one is aconsortium staff person.
Prior to this Scholar's Trust was governed by a volunteer steering committee, consisting of one representative from each participating ASERL library; a liaison from ASERL's Board of Directors; and a representative from WRLC. The ASERL Executive Director was a non-voting member of the committee, except when deciding tie votes.
Program Funding and Support
Much of the initial funding for development of the Scholars Trust program was provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). ASERL provides a part-time program officer for the program and contributes to the costs of development and maintenance of the JRNL database. All of the costs related to archiving of the committed print copies are borne by the archiving institutions. There are no fees or direct costs to participate in the Scholars Trust program.
Local costs for participating libraries largely include the staff time to identify, validate, and maintain the titles which the member has committed to archiving. The University of Florida contributes programming support for development and management of the JRNL database.
Other possible indirect costs for participants include costs to house content, including maintenance, interlibrary loan and security for facilities. Scholars Trust requires participants contribute staff time to support the oversight and governance of the program.
Agreements and Commitments
The Scholars Trust Program agreement combines the elements of ASERL's J-Retain program and WRLC's print journal archives under a single retention and access agreement, executed in January 2013 and revised in 2014. Participation in Scholars Trust requires that an ASERL library submit a letter of agreement affirming their compliance with the program policies outlined in the agreement. The agreement states that it is to be revisited in 2020 and again in 2030, to “ensure that the arrangement continues to provide value to the participating organizations.”[i]
The agreement may be modified or amended by a “2/3 majority vote of the Steering Committee and a review of the ASERL Board.”
Participating libraries may opt to discontinue participation in the agreement without penalty. Those that withdraw must provide written notice to WRLC and ASERL a minimum of 24 months in advance and “transfer ownership of archived journals to another library for retention under the same agreement.”
Titles committed to Scholars Trust remain the property of the library that commits to retain them. These titles may also be committed to other print archive programs with separate commitments and agreements. Such programs include Florida's FLARE Collection, the WRLC program and TRLN.
Participating WRLC and ASERL libraries also agree to extend reciprocal priority Inter-Library Loan (ILL) services to other WRLC and ASERL libraries. Archived titles are listed in the ASERL Kudzu system, created in 2001 to offer ILL services among ASERL's participating member libraries, and WRLC's common catalog (ALADIN). Archiving libraries agree not to charge other participating libraries any fees beyond normal ILL processing fees for services relating to the program.
In December 2016, ASERL and WRLC approved revisions to the ASERL-WRLC Reciprocal ILL Agreement. New additions to the ILL agreement include communicating about wait times for borrowed items, defining when a lender can ask for compensation or replacement for lost or damaged items, loan periods for non-standard items (e.g., DVDs, newly-released items, etc.), defining time periods for following up on overdue items, and criteria for quality control when scanning.
Storage and Maintenance of Holdings
Currently there are no uniform standards or requirements for conditions of storage across the Scholar's Trust collections. Conditions for housing Scholars Trust content vary by the facility in which the content is housed.
Scholars Trust content contributed by ASERL libraries is housed at upwards of 30 different facilities. Participating ASERL libraries might retain the copies they have committed to archive in open stacks or in a local onsite or offsite storage facility. Content is usually made available for borrowing locally and through interlibrary loan.
Materials in Scholars Trust committed by WRLC libraries, on the other hand, are maintained in the WRLC Shared Collections Facility (SCF) in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Built in 1987, the facility provides high-density, environmentally-controlled, retrievable storage for print and film formats. The building is kept at a temperature of 60° F with a relative humidity of 40 percent. As of January 2013, over 1.8 million print volumes and over 40,000 archival boxes are shelved in the SCF.[3]
The FLorida Academic REpository (FLARE) materials are housed in an environmentally controlled, inventoried and secure high density Univerity of Florida Auxiliary Library Facility ( ALF) in Gainesville, Florida. ALF is operated by the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida. Policies for the operation of FLARE are available online. Materials sent for deposit to ALF for the FLARE collection by participating Libraries are considered permanent transfers. Ownership of deposited materials is irrevocably transferred to UF on behalf of FLARE.[4]
Risks and Limitations
The program agreement is provisional, and is to be revisited in 2020 and again in 2030. In the interim, participating libraries may opt to discontinue participation in the program without penalty, providing written notice a minimum of 24 months in advance and transferring ownership of archived journals to “another library for retention under the same agreement.”
Archive materials are also available for circulation, albeit limited, and thus run the risk of loss or damage through handling and transport. Holdings maintained by some ASERL libraries in open stacks are thereby subject to additional hazard.
[1] See Russell, Judith C., "JRNL: Journal Retention and Needs Listing " Print Archiving Network (PAN) Meeting Seattle: January 25, 2013. http://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/c.php?g=147804&p=966721_
[2] See “ASERL Launches Collaborative Print Journal Archive : Partnership with TRLN Libraries will Share 100,000 Volumes,” http://www.aserl.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/ASERL_TRLN_Create_Archiv...
{3} See "Governing Scholar's Trust," http://www.aserl.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Scholars_Trust_Governanc...
[3] See Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, "Sharing a federal print repository: issues and opportunities." Report Prepared by the Federal Research Division, Library of Congress under an Agreement with the Federal Library and Information Committee (FLICC) Revised July 2011. http://www.loc.gov/flicc/publications/FRD/FLICC-REPORT_Revised-July2011[...
[4] See Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Concerning the FLorida Academic REpository (FLARE) http://csul.net/sites/csul.fcla.edu/uploads/FLARE-MOU-HDFonly08232012sho...
