Off-Site Storage: Value Added?

Cecilia Knight of Grinnell College presented an in-depth look at the issues facing anyone who may be looking at moving library materials to an off-site storage facility. While at first glance such a project might seem as simple as "moving old books to a warehouse," the reality is far more complicated. Material is moved to storage for reasons as varied as duplication, availability in multiple formats, protection from damage and low usage.

Remote storage may be preferable to withdrawal for a number of reasons. Access to electronic resources is often not guaranteed, digital

versions of a title may be incomplete due to copyright restrictions, scanned images can be of low quality and the original resources may have contextual value. Then too, resources in original format can be scanned or re-digitized as new methods or better OCR techniques become available.

Knight went on to examine the roles that individual libraries might play in the preservation of the shared intellectual heritage. Off-site storage decisions are closely linked with a library's understanding of its preservation responsibilities. Preservation commitments are frequently made on the basis of geography with libraries tending to emphasize resources important to a particular area or region. At times, this local approach can lead to a neglect of considerations such as the appropriate roles of research, college or public libraries.

The speaker concluded with a survey of digital preservation initiatives undertaken by such organizations as LOCKSS, CLOCKSS and Portico. These initiatives, in combination with the activities of organizations like the Center for Research Libraries and Open Content Alliance are leading to an environment in which libraries will decide which content to maintain as "e-only fromat," which content to store off site and which will be provided via on-site tactile access.

Cecilia's Powerpoint and bibliography are available on the Iowa ACRL website.

Submitted by Randy Roeder, Newsletter Committee