NASIG Newsletter

STRATEGY SESSION

The UC/JSTOR Paper Repository: Progress Thus Far

John Kiplinger, Director of Production, JSTOR; Nancy Kushigian, Director of Shared Print Collections, University of California; Colleen Carlton, Director of the Southern Regional Library Facility, University of California; and Jeff Sundquist, UC Shared Print Librarian / JSTOR Repository Manager, Southern Regional Library Facility, University of California
Reported by Mavis Molto

The first of the four presenters was John Kiplinger.  He provided some context for the Paper Repository, recently developed by the University of California and JSTOR.  A JSTOR Paper Repository Advisory Group met in September 2002 to discuss the needed characteristics for the repository, and in late 2004, JSTOR signed agreements with both Harvard University and the University of California/California Digital Library to archive all JSTOR titles publicly released through October 2003 (353 titles).  It was agreed that Harvard would maintain a dark archive (belonging to JSTOR) and the UC Libraries would maintain a dim archive (belonging to UCL). 

The next presenter, Nancy Kushigian, talked about the shared print projects at the UC Libraries.  Several shared print pilot projects were begun in 2005-06, along with the JSTOR/UC cooperative project in 2005.  Some of the challenges include:  1) management and administration; 2) systems for collaborative operation; 3) re-engineering the service model and systems, including user studies; 4) maintaining collaboration and funding; and 5) getting unanimous agreement among the ten campuses.

Colleen Carlton followed with an overview of the Southern Regional Library Facility (SRLF), where the JSTOR volumes are stored, and a description of the OPAC displays for the SRLF items.  Holdings can be viewed in Melvyl, the UC OPAC, which provides a public note showing where the volumes came from.  Additional item-specific information is available to UC library staff via the SRLF website. 

Jeff Sundquist, the last presenter, was hired as manager of the UC/JSTOR Repository in January 2005, with the charge of developing, implementing and managing an operational plan for the project.  The original timeline was May 1, 2005 to Dec. 31, 2006, with the goal of recording and processing 13 million pages at the rate of 650,000 pages per month.  Fifteen students were hired for the project, with another six added later when a higher page count was determined (14.25 million).

Validation, a major part of the processing, consists of physically scanning each volume, page by page, to make sure the volume is complete and in perfect condition.  However, as work began, numerous marks were found on the pages, which had to be fixed or the volume would be rejected.  Because of the high rejection rate (60%), the project became a 23 million-page project, because of the additional validation required for the replacement volumes.  More students were hired, for a total of thirty-three, so as to complete the project on time.

Three mid-project dilemmas developed, including: 1) student turnover; 2) the need to fill a second library assistant position under restricted FTE conditions and 3) a continuing high rejection rate.  To deal with the rejection rate, standards were modified so more volumes would pass validation.  Also, the UCLA Conservation Laboratory was used to train students on intermediate-level repairs.  Another tactic was to begin using volumes from schools having potentially better copy than the volumes at the SRLF.  After these changes, the rejection rate was reduced from 60% to 10%.

Topics that came up for discussion included:  1) cost concerns; 2) ergonomics; 3) binding potential repository volumes incomplete or with reproduced pages; 4) discarding duplicate or damaged volumes; and 5) quality control.