1. The Alabama Digital Preservation Network (ADPNet)
Aaron Trehub
Director of Library Technology
Auburn University
State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV)
Newport News, Virginia
March 14, 2008

2. Background
ADPNet inspired by experience from NDIIPP MetaArchive Project
IMLS grant: September 2006 through September 2008
Grant awarded to and administered by Alabama Council on Higher Education/NAAL in Montgomery
Project director at Auburn University Libraries
Commitments from seven institutions across the state

3. Objective
To create a low-cost, low-maintenance, sustainable, geographically distributed digital preservation network for libraries, archives, and museums in Alabama.

4. The seven participating institutions
Alabama Dept. of Archives and History
Auburn University
Spring Hill College
Troy University
University of Alabama
University of Alabama at Birmingham
University of North Alabama

5. The network ADPNet is a Private LOCKSS Network (PLN)
Uses off-the-shelf equipment and software
LOCKSS servers (nodes) at all seven participating institutions
Each institution maintains its LOCKSS server
Each institution contributes content for harvesting and archiving by the network
Runs on sweat equity, with help from LOCKSS staff

6. Why Alabama? Hurricanes Tornadoes
Growing number of rich digital collections
Modest financial resources
Uneven technical support
Ideal test case for geographically distributed digital preservation network

7. Why LOCKSS? Familiar with it (through MetaArchive) Simple and robust
Cheap (except for membership in LOCKSS Alliance—more on that later)
Good technical support
Know it works

8. Costs
Servers: LOCKSS server and Web server (for making content available to the network)
Staff time (less than we anticipated)
Communication (negligible)
Some travel—not much
The biggie: LOCKSS Alliance membership fee (annual). Supports LOCKSS software development and technical support

9. ADPNet Content
ADPNet currently contains 11 collections (“archival units”) from five institutions
Approximately 100 gigabytes harvested
Network capacity: one terabyte
Plenty of room for more collections
More collections on the way, including audio and video files

10. ADPNet administration
ADPNet is a single-state network
Folded into existing administrative infrastructure: ACHE/NAAL
Not a service organization
No membership fees (but LOCKSS Alliance membership mandatory)
In-kind contribution: bring up and run a LOCKSS node in the network
Governance document in the works

11. ADPNet digital preservation awareness survey
Sent to academic and public libraries, archives, schools, and state and municipal offices in Alabama in February 2008
79 responses: public libraries largest single group of respondents
Most important decision factors: reliability (91 percent), expertise and support (88 percent), cost (86 percent), staffing (84 percent), and preservation of mission-critical collections (84 percent)
Most people learn about new initiatives from conferences and colleagues, so focus on those

12. Lessons learned Keep it simple Keep it cheap Don’t get fancy
Low maintenance
Low administrative overhead
Take advantage of existing structures and relationships (easier to do with single-state network)

13. Future plans
Add more content to the network
Recruit more member institutions, including public libraries and museums
Spread the word

14. Auburn University Libraries
Contact
Aaron Trehub
Auburn University Libraries