Alabama puts LOCKSS on Digital Preservation

The Alabama Commission on Higher Education was recently awarded $113,427 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to be used over the next two years for the preservation of archival material in the Alabama Digital Preservation Program.

The Commission, through its Network of Alabama Academic Libraries (NAAL), will test the feasibility of adopting the Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe (LOCKSS), a concept that creates a network of duplicates that can replace quickly any lost or damaged digital object.

"Throughout the years, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and fires have destroyed libraries and ruined priceless collections," said Sue Medina, NAAL director. "While Alabama academic libraries escaped the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, the destruction of so many historical collections along the Gulf Coast caused a public outcry for strategies to prevent such loss after future disasters."

Repositories risk losing content primarily through:

• Physical damage
• Obsolescence of hardware and software.

This project proposes a LOCKSS long-term storage network as an effective solution to prevent loss of digital assets through physical damage from natural events, human intervention or error, or just the ravages of time.

"This will address a pressing need for Alabama repositories to eliminate the risk of physical damage while planning to manage obsolescence threats," added Gregory G. Fitch, the Commission's executive director. "As more content becomes available in digital formats, Alabama residents will expect organizations to recover quickly in the event of another disaster."

Matching funds totaling $376,576 are being contributed by NAAL, the Alabama Department of Archives and History, Auburn University, Spring Hill College, Troy University, the University of Alabama, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of North Alabama.