Purpose

JSTOR is a digital library of more than 1,500 academic journals, books, and primary sources. JSTOR helps people discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content through a powerful research and teaching platform, and preserves this content for future generations. JSTOR is part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization that also includes Ithaka S+R and Portico.

We collaborate with the academic community to achieve the following goals:

• Help scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of scholarly content on a dynamic platform that increases productivity and facilitates new forms of scholarship.
• Help libraries connect patrons to vital content while increasing shelf-space savings and lowering costs.
• Help publishers reach new audiences and preserve their scholarly content for future generations.

Please download the JSTOR Factsheet for more information.

History

JSTOR was conceived by William G. Bowen, then-President of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, to help university and college libraries challenged to provide adequate space for an ever-growing amount of published scholarship. Bowen's solution: convert printed scholarly journals into electronic form and store them in a centralized digital archive that can be shared, accessed, and relied upon by libraries and their users. Participating libraries and their institutions could free local “bricks and mortar” space, reduce capital and other costs associated with collection storage, and vastly improve access to scholarly papers and other content. There would also be other benefits: Material would never be lost or checked-out, small institutions could have access to large collections, and ultimately trust in digital preservation could help to bring about acceptance of electronic publication.

In 1995, following a pilot launched under the direction of the University of Michigan, JSTOR was established as an independent not-for-profit organization. In 2009, JSTOR merged with and became a service of ITHAKA. ITHAKA is also home to Portico, a digital preservation service for e-books, e-journals, and other scholarly e-content, and Ithaka S+R, a strategy and research service that focuses on the transformation of research and teaching in an online environment. Ithaka S+R's goal is to identify the critical issues facing our community and act as a catalyst for change.

Preservation

JSTOR was founded to be a shared digital archive serving the scholarly community. We understand the value of the scholarship and other material on the platform and that the future accessibility of this content is essential. Libraries around the world rely on us and contribute Archive Capital Fees to JSTOR for preservation activities.

We actively pursue long-term preservation in several ways. Learn more

Careers

JSTOR is part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization that also includes Ithaka S+R’s and Portico. ITHAKA currently offers exciting career opportunities to motivated and innovative people who thrive in a results-driven and energetic work environment. We are enthusiastic about our mission and our culture, which is based on collaboration, transparency, and the desire to provide exceptional products and services to the community. Check it out on ITHAKA