Colorado State University librarians conducted five focus groups with thirty-one faculty, research scientists, and research associates. The groups explored: (1) The nature of data sets that these researchers create or maintain; (2) How participants manage their data; (3) Needs for support that the participants identify in relation to sharing, curating, and preserving their data; and (4) The feasibility of adapting the Purdue University Libraries' Data Curation Profiles Toolkit 1 interview protocol for use in focus groups with researchers. The authors report their review of related literature, themes that emerged from analysis of the focus groups, and implications for related library services.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an account of digital archiving and preservation practices and processes successfully implemented at an academic institution.Design/methodology/approachThis case study chronicles the planning and actions taken to identify, select, package, and archive local digital assets for long‐term access and migration. It includes a literature review and offers selected resources as a starting point for other institutions investigating digital preservation tools and practices.FindingsDigital preservation is a broad, evolving, and important facet of digital asset management, yet often overlooked by library administration and understated in library operations. Collaborative approaches should be considered in implementing digital preservation tools and processes with limited resources.Practical implicationsWhat is successfully in operation at CSUL may be learned by other institutions. An effective preservation plan and established workflows will give an organization the capability to maximize limited funds and staff time.Originality/valueThe majority of the current literature provides theories, technologies, conceptual models, and large‐scale collaborations, with relatively little describing needs, practices, operations, and experiences at a specific academic library. This paper will contribute to the literature by discussing digital preservation from actual experience, based on the work we perform, the needs we face, and the solutions we reach within our current environment.

Libraries has been creating digitized collections, primarily from its Archives and Special Collections unit, since 2000. These projects involved collaboration among Archives, Cataloging, and Digitization; the most recent and ambitious project, digitizing 13,000 historical images of the university dating from the 1880s into the 1930s, required closer collaboration than any previous project. The three authors, each with a distinctive role in the project, use this case study to illustrate and discuss in detail the different professional and technical skills and perspectives that each brought to the project and how they learned from each other. The authors present lessons learned in how to effectively build successful internal partnerships to further digitization projects.

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Recent disasters and their effects on libraries remind us of the vulnerability of library collections. A water-related disaster at Colorado State University (CSU) in 1997 resulted in a large recovery operation, the last part of which included a project to replace by repurchasing more than 9,000 bound journal volumes. This project began with a sampling technique to help determine replacement cost, continued with a detailed request for proposal, and ended with a productive collaboration between CSU Libraries and Absolute Backorder Services, Inc. The article includes perspectives by both library and vendor staff. Serials Review 2006; 32:26-34. D 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.The recent series of natural disasters impacting libraries illustrates not only the vulnerability of library collections but, despite careful planning, the impossibility of preventing such catastrophes. Unfortunately, the number and magnitude of these disasters seem to be increasing. The flood at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2004, for example, swept through a technical services area destroying many hard-to-replace items, while the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 is just being assessed at the time of this writing. The many types of libraries in Katrina's wake and the variety of collections affected will require a variety of solutions.These emerging stories again bring to mind the horrific experience of suddenly finding one's collection destroyed and trying to decide what to do. In 1997, Colorado State University Libraries (CSU) found itself coping with replacing over 500,000 volumes after a large water-related disaster. As Hawaii and the many victims of Katrina begin the long road to recovery and seek advice from other libraries, we thought it might be useful to offer an update of our experience using one of the ways libraries may recover lost collections-replacing bound journals by repurchasing.