OCLC Offers Long-Term Digital Archive Storage

Digital archives may solve the problem of scarcity and delicacy inherent with many physical archives, but that doesn't mean that lasting preservation isn't a major concern. OCLC last week announced a new version of its Digital Archive service for the “long-term storage of libraries' digital collections,” providing offsite managed storage of digital archive “master files” and the relevant services necessary to keep libraries' data safe in its original state.

Unlike other backup and storage options, such as the open source and membership-funded LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe), OCLC's program is a fully managed and remotely hosted backup for original digital content.

The OCLC Digital Archive includes monthly reports that verify file integrity. Hoping to fit into the existing workflow of many digital archives, the service enables files to be uploaded directly into the storage servers via Connexion, the popular OCLC cataloging interface integrated with WorldCat, as well as through CONTENTdm's digital collections management software for libraries.

The service is also aimed at other cultural institutions making extensive use of digital archives, like the Montana Historical Society, announced as a Digital Archive participant in the organization's press release.

In other OCLC news, the company recently announced a partnership with the Orbis Cascade Alliance, an academic library consortium in Oregon and Washington, to migrate the existing holdings of the group to a “consortial borrowing solution” based on worldcat.org.

The goals of this migration include an increase in “the accuracy and comprehensiveness of member library holdings in WorldCat,” according to OCLC, and “the implementation of a resource sharing system that combines the best of [interlibrary loan] and circulation capabilities and workflows.”

The combined catalog will represent the holdings of 35 member institutions and present their collected 28 million volumes as the top search results, supplemented by other results retrieved from the larger WorldCat catalog.