Project JASPER was announced on World Preservation Day in November 2020.
The initiative was launched by DOAJ, CLOCKSS, Internet Archive, ISSN International Centre (Keepers Registry) and Public Knowledge Project to address the problem of open access journals disappearing from the web.
So, where are we as we start 2023?
- We have developed the DOAJ interface so that indexed publishers can opt in to preservation at the push of a button.
- DOAJ and CLOCKSS have signed an agreement to remove some of the paperwork formerly required from each publisher, thereby streamlining the process.
- There is a human support system in place, so these publishers have a friendly and streamlined journey – this crosses all the partner organizations and has been surprisingly challenging to orchestrate.
- The questionnaire we use to assess journals wanting to be part of JASPER is now available in 3 languages: Arabic, English, and Spanish. We’re hoping to add more languages soon.
- A technical pipeline exists so that content and structured metadata swish seamlessly from DOAJ into Internet Archive to one or more preservation services.
- Nine journals have completed the process and have either delivered content and metadata or have been archived via Internet Archive’s automated web crawling.
- Most importantly, we have been able to preserve scholar-led journals published in countries such as Croatia, Finland, Ireland, North Macedonia, Poland & Sri Lanka.
- The project partners coordinated to produce a list of Ukrainian journals using OJS so that Internet Archive could ensure they were added to their web archiving initiative.
Check out some of the titles that have been preserved:
Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media
Annales Scientia Politica
Columbo Business Journal
Fafnir: the Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research
Next up for Project Jasper is to find sustainable funding. These journals are all published under a diamond Open Access model, meaning they are labours of love with no funding streams, and they cannot afford to pay anything for their preservation. The project partners are trying a broad array of approaches to ensure that providing services to these journals becomes a core part of their mission.
Please email us to register interest in being involved, to send enquiries or receive updates about the latest developments. Please check our dedicated webpage for full information about the project, the partner organisations involved and the project phases.
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