Why Archive?

Vulnerable Electronic Resources

The work of the academy - teaching and research - is not possible without reliable access to the accumulated scholarship of the past. One component of this scholarly record, academic journals, is increasingly electronic - and fragile - and its future availability is a growing concern.

13% of Internet sources cited in three prestigious journals were irretrievable from the original hyperlink 27 months after publication.¹
83% of surveyed faculty believe it is "very important" to preserve electronic scholarly resources for future use.²

Essential Electronic Resources

Faculty are concerned about the preservation of these resources because the continuing transition to reliance upon electronic resources has progressed so dramatically.

In 2002, 70% of surveyed research faculty were using electronic journals for their research.³
In 2003, 78% of surveyed faculty characterized electronic scholarly journals as "invaluable research tools." ⁴

This transition is further evidenced in the substantial expenditures institutions make toward what are now core resources.

In 2003-04, libraries surveyed by the Association of Research Libraries expended total institutional resources of $301,699,645 to license electronic materials.
On average, 31% of total library material expenditures are devoted to electronic resources.⁵

The vulnerability of these resources and their centrality to teaching and research require that protective action be taken today to ensure their ongoing availability - for today's faculty and for scholars of the future.

For a more detailed explanation of Portico's archival approach, please see the first paper in our series, Papers from Portico.

Last updated on March 30, 2007