"Archiving" e-journals

[Barbara Stewart]

Dear Bob,

Just my luck...the first time I play devil's advocate, I get a reply from 
a Reverend ;-)

> Unfortunately, not all material of historical significance was preserved. 
> 
> Some things are worth preserving and keeping archivally. I'd submit that 
> juried web journals should have each page perserved.  Those that have 
> charge of them have a moral responsibility to our society and their 
> profession to save the best of their discipline.
> 
> My point, I guess, is that preservation 
> is a serious issue and if librarians and archivists don't champion it, 
> who will? It is worth the time to weigh the value of e-docs and preserve 
> those that chronicle our times.

I agree with everything you've said here.  However, if each of us doesn't 
make a decision about what to archive IMMEDIATELY, then indeed these 
materials will be lost.  How can this issue be addressed?

-- 
Barbara Stewart, Latin American  Cataloger
W.E.B. Du Bois Library, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst
Amherst, MA 01003
(413)545-2728  Fax:(413)545-6494
stew at library.umass.edu