The IUA supports digital preservation

The Irish Universities Association (IUA) libraries have joined more than 400 libraries from 11 countries in supporting Portico and digital preservation.

Through its support of the Portico archive, the Irish Research Electronic Library (IReL) program - a national initiative under the aegis of the IUA and Science Foundation Ireland - incorporates long-term digital preservation and access protection for a growing number of titles.

Robin Adams, librarian of Trinity College, Dublin and secretary of the IUA Librarians' Group said: 'The decision to participate in Portico was a cost effective means for the IUA to address digital preservation responsibilities and to protect the substantial investment made in the IReL.’ Eileen Fenton, executive director of Portico noted: ‘We are pleased the IUA has chosen to support Portico's community-based approach to digital preservation. The IUA's decision highlights the benefits of sharing the costs of 'digital preservation insurance' across an international and growing community of libraries and scholarly publishers working co-operatively to accomplish robust digital preservation.’