Open Archiving

Long-term preservation is a key requirement for open access publishing—but for many small and scholar-led presses, existing archiving solutions can be complex or costly to implement.

The Copim Open Archiving Criteria define what a robust open archiving setup should look like, with a particular focus on the needs of smaller OA publishers. These criteria build on established preservation practices, but adapt them to the realities of community-led publishing.

Thoth has reviewed current archiving options against these criteria and developed two complementary approaches: a free, self-managed workflow, and a fully managed service. Both are designed to help publishers meet best practices without unnecessary overhead.

Self-managed archiving with Thoth

Publishers using Thoth can implement a distributed archiving strategy using existing open infrastructures.

This approach is supported via Thoth Oasis, and typically involves depositing content in repositories such as:

• Internet Archive
• Zenodo
• Institutional or university repositories
• Other trusted archives

Thoth supports this workflow by:

• Providing high-quality, standardised metadata for all publications
• Enabling publishers to link archived versions back to their Thoth records
• Enabling the recording of archive URLs and checksum values within the metadata

This ensures that archived files remain discoverable and verifiable across multiple locations, while giving publishers full control over where and how their content is preserved.

Thoth Open Archiving Network (TOAN)

For publishers who want a more automated solution, Thoth offers the Thoth Open Archiving Network (TOAN) as part of our Thoth Obelisk service package. TOAN is a managed archiving service that distributes and monitors content across multiple platforms.

Included platforms

• Internet Archive
• Zenodo
• Thoth Open Metadata CDN

How it works

1. Book files and metadata are automatically deposited across all platforms
2. Checksum values are recorded where available
3. Files are regularly checked (e.g. every six months) to verify integrity
4. Any discrepancies can be identified and corrected

This creates a sufficiently redundant, distributed archiving network without requiring ongoing manual work from publishers.

Metrics and reporting

Archiving activity can be connected to OPERASmetrics through the Thoth Sphinx package, allowing publishers to track usage and engagement across platforms.

Flexible by design

TOAN can be used alongside additional archiving solutions. For example, publishers may also deposit content in a university repository or other local infrastructure, while continuing to use Thoth for metadata management and tracking.

Supporting open access sustainability

Thoth’s archiving options are designed to:

• Align with community-led standards such as the COPIM criteria
• Work for small and medium-sized OA publishers
• Reduce technical and financial barriers
• Ensure long-term access to open access books

👀 Open Archiving is included in the Thoth Obelisk, Sphinx, and Pyramid packages.