Insights from a Webinar with Roxanne Massingham (ANU) and Alicia Wise (CLOCKSS)
In an age of rapid technological transformation and an ever-expanding digital scholarly landscape, the question of how we preserve the integrity, accessibility, and diversity of knowledge has never been more pressing. This was the central focus of a recent webinar featuring Roxanne Missingham, University Librarian at the Australian National University (ANU), and Alicia Wise, Executive Director of CLOCKSS. Together, they unpacked the complex responsibilities libraries now face, not only in safeguarding the scholarly record, but also in reimagining their role as active participants in the creation and ethical stewardship of knowledge.
CLOCKSS, as Alicia explained, is a unique digital preservation network that operates globally, with a presence on five continents and participation from leading academic institutions. Its purpose is to protect scholarly content in a distributed, secure, and redundant way, ensuring that the knowledge we rely on today remains accessible and intact far into the future. The initiative is deeply values-driven, committed to principles of equity, resilience, and sustainability, and designed to function independently of corporate interests. CLOCKSS ensures that content is preserved in its original form, unaltered, to maintain the authenticity of the scholarly record.
For ANU, collaboration with CLOCKSS is not just a practical choice, it’s an expression of its identity and mission. As the only Commonwealth university in Australia, ANU carries a legislated responsibility to preserve and share knowledge for the nation and the broader Asia-Pacific region. Roxanne emphasized that preservation is a natural extension of this mission, particularly as libraries like ANU’s increasingly host, support, and partner in the publication of scholarship that doesn’t pass through traditional commercial publishing channels. This includes the rise of diamond open access journals and faculty-led publications, many of which are run with passion but limited infrastructure. CLOCKSS provides a sustainable and inclusive model to ensure these smaller, community-based publishing efforts are not lost to time or neglect.
Yet the conversation didn’t stop at technical infrastructure. Both Roxanne and Alicia stressed the urgent need to reframe preservation as an ethical and inclusive practice. Digital archives must serve all communities, not just those historically well-represented in scholarship. CLOCKSS and ANU are actively working to decolonize the scholarly record by elevating underrepresented voices, from Indigenous and LGBTQ+ researchers to Spanish-speaking and African scholars. This inclusive preservation work is essential if we are to build a digital future that reflects the full diversity of global knowledge.
At the same time, new threats are emerging. The growing capabilities of generative AI and the uncertainty surrounding digital copyright law are causing deep concern among creators, particularly around how their work might be scraped, repurposed, or misused without consent. Roxanne highlighted how existing copyright regimes, have failed to provide clarity or confidence. In response, libraries must lead new conversations with creators and institutions about how to develop content management frameworks that protect both access and agency. Librarians have long championed open access, but open doesn’t mean unprotected. There is a vital role to play in ensuring that creators’ rights are respected, and that ethical controls are in place to guide how research is shared, cited, and reused.
This is especially relevant as universities begin to experiment with hybrid models of scholarly publishing that are part repository, part publisher, and increasingly led by libraries. Roxanne pointed to Australia’s National E-Deposit Scheme as a strong model for commercial publications but emphasized the need to develop similar controls and support systems for university-based research outputs. These models must go beyond simply providing access; they must also address how institutions and libraries take long-term responsibility for the works they help bring into the world.
Alicia reinforced the point that while access is important, preservation is foundational and often invisible. Even though 75% of journals are preserved in at least one place, only a small fraction are secured in three or more, which makes the majority highly vulnerable. For books, there is not even a reliable international infrastructure to determine what is being preserved and where. The KEEPERS Registry (https://keepers.issn.org/) attempts to address this gap for journals by tracking archival activity across trusted preservation agencies, but no comparable system currently exists for books, leaving their long-term availability uncertain.
Digital content stored in only one location is at risk, and digital data is more fragile than many realize. Preserving bit-level integrity, redundancy, and authenticity requires careful, ongoing work, and yet it remains underfunded and underappreciated in many institutional strategies.
As a call to action, Alicia encouraged libraries to not only support centralized preservation efforts like CLOCKSS but also to share stewardship responsibilities with one another. Whether it's collaborating with a neighbouring institution or forming cross-border partnerships, distributed preservation is key to resilience. She invited libraries, publishers, and institutions to join the CLOCKSS community and take an active role in building a global preservation infrastructure that can support the entire scholarly ecosystem.
The webinar concluded with a reminder that digital preservation isn’t just a technical problem to be solved, it’s a collective ethical responsibility. Libraries are no longer just the gateways to information; they are its guardians. As scholarship continues to evolve, expanding beyond traditional formats, confronting new legal uncertainties, and navigating the rapid rise of AI—our systems of stewardship must evolve too. Preservation work may be quiet and often invisible, but it is foundational to the future of research, education, and informed public discourse. And in that future, libraries must not only protect knowledge but also help shape the way it is created, shared, and sustained.
To watch the full webinar, please visit our YouTube Channel
As a long-term digital preservation service committed to safeguarding scholarly and cultural content, CLOCKSS is here to help. We invite Ukrainian publishers, academic institutions, and libraries especially those whose digital content may be at risk due to war or instability to partner with us. We are prepared to preserve your materials securely, ensuring that they remain accessible to future generations.
If you or your organization needs support, please contact us at info@clockss.org