The Digital Distributed Community Archive (the CLOCKSS Archive) has engaged the Center for Research Libraries to undertake an in-depth audit of the CLOCKSS preservation archive. CLOCKSS (Controlled LOCKSS) is a not-for-profit joint venture between the world’s leading academic publishers and research libraries. Its mission is to build a sustainable, geographically distributed dark archive to ensure the long-term survival of web-based scholarly publications for the benefit of the greater global research community. The CLOCKSS Archive employs the LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) technology to manage the preservation of content across the CLOCKSS global network of archive nodes.

Permanent access to academic content is vital to researchers, libraries, scientists, and academics in all fields of academic endeavor. CRL’s constituent academic and independent research libraries have a vested interest in the durability of the CLOCKSS Archive and in the integrity of its content.

The audit, which begins in September 2013 and is expected to conclude in May 2014, will use the Trusted Repository Audit and Certification (TRAC) metrics, published in 2007 by the National Archives and Records Administration, Research Libraries Group, and CRL. TRAC checklist criteria measure the ability of a given repository to preserve digital content in a way that serves the repository's stakeholder community.

During the audit, CRL will examine governance structures, procedures, and policies that affect sustainability of the archive, the CLOCKSS Archive’s management of digital objects, and technical infrastructure and security. CRL will then report to the CLOCKSS Board of Directors regarding the archive’s compliance with the TRAC metrics, identifying areas where changes or improvements might be made based on those criteria.

Members of the Certification Advisory Panel for the CRL CLOCKSS audit:

• Perry Willett (Chair), Digital Preservation Services Manager, California Digital Library

• Winston Atkins, Preservation Officer, Duke University

• Pascal Calarco, University of Waterloo

• Maliaca Oxnam, Associate Librarian, Scholarly Publishing & Data Management Team, University of Arizona

• Oya Y. Rieger, Associate University Librarian, Digital Scholarship and Preservation Services, Cornell University