What is "lockss"

The LOCKSS ("Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe") project, under the auspices of Stanford University, is a peer-to-peer network that develops and supports an open source system allowing libraries to collect, preserve and provide their readers with access to material published on the Web. The system attempts to replicate the way libraries do this for material published on paper. It was originally designed for scholarly journals, but is now also used for a range of other materials. Examples include the SOLINET project to preserve theses and dissertations at eight universities, US government documents, and the MetaArchive Cooperative program preserving at-risk digital archival collections, including Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs), newspapers, photograph collections, and audio-visual collections.

A similar project called CLOCKSS (Controlled LOCKSS) "is a tax-exempt, 501(c)3, not-for-profit organization, governed by a Board of Directors made up of librarians and publishers." CLOCKSS runs on LOCKSS technology. Rutgers University Libraries have a webpage comparing LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, and Portico.