Archiving of electronic journals in physics and astronomy: role of consortia

Abstract

Electronic journals unfold their most valuable features when they are inter-linked with other documents, archives and databases. These electronic journals need an archiving system that is based on a global concept. Archiving ensures “continued access indefinitely into the future of records stored in digital electronic form”. Archiving system has to be flexible to adopt the new technological generation. The rapid pace at which technology becomes obsolete makes archiving an extremely expensive undertaking. The librarians are more concerned about the archiving of the electronic journals themselves, or getting access to the archives established by the publishers or the aggregators. This paper focuses on the issues related to the archiving of electronic journals in Physics and Astronomy by the publishers, aggregators and the consortia.