In Medias Res: An Examination of Work in Progress at the Academic Preservation Trust (APTrust) Consortium

Abstract

This is Chapter 15 of the ALA Editions book "Digital Preservation in Libraries: Preparing for a Sustainable Future" (2019). The chapter was written by the UVA Library's Senior Director for Scholarly Communication R. F. (Chip) German Jr. and Director of Preservation Services Kara McClurken. German is also program director (the chief operating officer role) of the Academic Preservation Trust (APTrust) consortium, based at the UVA Library. The chapter, written in 2017, is an often-first-hand account of the history of APTrust through its first five years. In addition to reporting milestones of the consortium's digital repository for the scholarly and cultural materials of its members, the authors examine the evolution of the consortium's identity and its underlying concepts. They explore from functional, financial and organizational perspectives the consortium's defining characteristic, transparency. As the title of the chapter suggests, this is an insider's view of an academic consortium, in the middle of things.