There seem to be at least two schools of thought here. The first argues that although archiving/preservation of digital resources is important, it is not an issue librarians need be overly concerned about. The technology will take care of itself. The opposing view is that experience indicates that it will not take care of itself; and that it is a major issue for keeping a permanent record of the development of the body of knowledge. With the advent of electronics, one of the questions being asked is - who should be responsible? Libraries? Publishers?

Another question is: How should the body of knowledge be preserved, and should it be just the data, or the software which enables access to the data as well?

(a) Who is responsible for archiving?

Responsibility shifting to publishers from libraries due to a number of factors including:

• Complexity
• Expense
• Changing technology

(b) Can publishers provide temporary solutions?

The group expressed the unanimous opinion that publishers should attempt to provide temporary solutions. There were many questions about the formats and methods used to do so, such as:

• Will we be able to read CDs in the future?
• What is "post-web"?
• Do publishers want archiving?
• What are the legal ramifications?

(c) Is a National library or a library that functions as one to create a National archive possible in the US?

The short answer was no. Many group members felt that the idea of a National archive was a good one but that it would be unattainable. Several stumbling blocks were noted. Some of them were the sheer volume of material to be archived, funding, concerns about copywright infringement and coordinating the decision-making process.

(d) What is actually archived? The content? The technology? Both? (How should we deal with linking?)

Both the search engine technology and the content need to be archived. There was a fairly lengthy discussion about migration. Several attendees suggested developing a standard format to keep migration costs to a minimum.

(e) General Overall Comments, Possible Solutions and Action Points

• Responsibility for archiving should be with a third party such as an aggregator, subscription agent service or JSTOR. (Research additional third parties to consider.)
• Outline the Intellectual Property issues that limit what can be done.
• Libraries and publishers need to look at the economic models and consider scalability. What are we willing to pay for?
• Movement towards standardization will help us respond better in the future given Moore's law. (Moore's law is based on the premise that technology will continue to become cheaper and faster.)
• Libraries and publishers should lobby for changes in legislation and funding to support archiving.

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