American Chemical Society, Portico sign agreement for permanent electronic archiving of ACS content

The American Chemical Society (ACS) Publications Division has signed a major archiving agreement with Portico, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to preserve scholarly literature published in electronic form and to ensure that these materials remain accessible to future scholars, researchers and students. Portico’s electronic archiving service was launched in 2005 with support provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Ithaka, The Library of Congress and Journal Storage (JSTOR). The agreement assures long-term preservation and ongoing access to electronic content from the journals of the ACS. With the signing of this agreement, ACS joins a growing body of publishers –– currently numbering more than 30 and encompassing over 6,000 titles –– who have entrusted Portico to provide a permanent archive of their journal content, thus enabling libraries to migrate more quickly to electronic resources without risking future accessibility. Robert D. Bovenschulte, President of ACS Publications, commented on the Portico agreement: “The archiving and preservation of our digital content is a key strategic priority for ACS Publications. We are delighted to be partnering with Portico as an important part of our solution to ensure permanent and ongoing access to our essential research in the chemical and related sciences. As our institutional customers and ACS members increasingly rely on electronic content for their scholarly research, they can be assured of ACS Publications’ commitment to safeguarding electronic access to our journal content for the future.” Eileen Fenton, Executive Director of Portico, commented: “We are very pleased that the electronic content of the American Chemical Society will be added to the Portico archive. As electronic journals have become a vital part of the scholarly record, the need for robust, multi-layered archival arrangements has become more urgent. We look forward to incorporating ACS journal content into Portico’s active archive operations, and are delighted to serve as the secure repository of this portion of the scholarly record.” The Portico archiving agreement complements ACS’s participation in the Controlled Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe (CLOCKSS) program, which ACS joined in the spring of 2006. CLOCKSS is a preservation initiative between publishers, libraries and the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). The American Chemical Society — the world’s largest scientific society — is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio. The ACS Publications Division currently publishes 35 leading peer-reviewed journals in the chemical and related sciences, including the Journal of the American Chemical Society, as well as Chemical & Engineering News, the Society’s weekly news magazine.