NASIGuide: Talking Points and Questions to ask
Publishers about Digital Preservation

Prepared by the Digital Preservation Committee

Updated 28 October 2024

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This information is intended to be a helpful guide for librarians when they subscribe or renew access to publications.

Preparation before contacting publisher:

If renewing a license for journal titles, check to see if the publisher is keeping current with making deposits to third-party archival agencies, which can be accomplished by using the Keepers Registry browser look-up or a fee-based service to upload journal titles and/or ISSNs through the Submit.Retrieve.Reuse tool.
Review the library’s prior license and compare the preservation terms with July 2023 updates to LibLicense with recommendations for improving language to use in agreements; and guidance on how to negotiate the language into agreements.
- LibLicense Digital Preservation
- Working Paper assessing shortcoming in licenses prior to July 2023 and suggested changes to increase transparency, specificity and measurable obligations. This document also clarifies the distinction between long-term preservation and post-cancellation access.
Review the NASIG Model Digital Preservation Policy for a general background concerning long-term preservation decisions.

Talking to a publisher

Publishers should include information on preservation services in their licenses, but please check with them if the language is absent or unclear. Talking points and questions to consider asking include:

Are you familiar with digital preservation?
1. If no, please consult our Digital Preservation 101.
2. If yes, does your organization have a specific contact person for any digital preservation concerns?
Which digital preservation services do you use?
1. These may include CLOCKSS, LOCKSS, or Portico. Various national library projects such as the British Library, and the Library of Congress may also provide digital preservation services for publisher content related to their legal deposit programs.
Keepers Registry to see what percentage of your content is covered by digital preservation services?
1. Here is a link to our Guide to the Keeper’s Registry.
How frequently do you deposit content with these services?
Do your journal contracts (and contracts to publish journals on behalf of societies or other third parties) include clauses that allow you to deposit content with such services for digital preservation purposes?
1. If no, what prevents you from adding language to contracts that enables this?
Do you have a preservation policy?
1. Is your policy openly available online? If no, please provide a copy.
2. Does your policy and/or the policy of your digital preservation service(s) provide for the following features? If no, have you had discussions about how to ensure that these are addressed?:
  1. Storing content in formats that comply with the LOC Recommended Formats Statement
  2. Preserving the content submitted indefinitely
  3. Storing standard preservation metadata
  4. Maintaining multiple distributed copies
  5. Periodically auditing content to ensure that it remains secure and uncorrupted
  6. Replacing/repairing corrupted content
  7. Performing format migrations, emulation, and similar activities as needed
  8. A means for access to content if a trigger event occurs
3. Are you aware of the circumstances that might result in a trigger event for specific content?
  1. Portico: Trigger Events
  2. CLOCKSS: Trigger Events
Do you deposit ebooks as well as journals? What other types of content do you deposit? If you have content that you do not currently deposit, have you had discussions about how that content might be preserved?
Have you deposited digital backfiles? If no, when did you first start depositing content for frontlist titles?
Are errata and corrected versions of record preserved?
Do your deposits include supplementary materials, including datasets and any code needed to support reproducibility?
1. Have you heard of platforms such as Code Ocean? (See their announcement on preserving reproducible code with CLOCKSS.)
2. If your deposits do not include supplementary materials, do you require authors to host supplemental materials in a repository that:
  1. Complies with the LOC Recommended Formats Statement
  2. Commits to preserve the originally submitted content indefinitely
  3. Stores standard preservation metadata
  4. Keeps multiple distributed copies
  5. Periodically audits content to ensure that it remains secure and uncorrupted
  6. Has the ability to replace/repair corrupted content
  7. Has the ability to perform format migrations, emulation, and similar activities as needed
  8. Provides a means for access to content if a trigger event occurs, and clearly specifies what circumstances amount to a trigger event?
3. Do you promote the use of services such as Dryad (see their preservation statement) and/or FigShare (see their approach to security and stability) for supplementary materials?
Are you active in industry groups that are exploring how digital preservation might evolve to best meet library needs? (For example, the Library Publishing Coalition, Coalition for Networked Information, and the National Digital Stewardship Alliance.)