Oh, absolutely, yes. I myself am a librarian with archival training, and the difference between access and preservation is a basic one in the field. Thank you for bringing it up. I overlooked it here because I had another point to make, and because I was willing to accept for purposes of argument the essential given in using computer access as a preservation tool, a large organization willing to dedicate resources to the continual monitoring of its data. I am not worried, for the here and now at least, about JSTOR or Project MUSE crashing.

But in the long term, absolutely. I pointed this out in an article I wrote nearly 15 years ago at the behest of a small-town public library, here.

Computer formats change constantly, and old files become unreadable by new systems. The electronic data on disks decay slowly over time. The plastic in CD-ROMs will become brittle and yellow, and the metal will rust, within 50 years. The computer is a useful tool, but it's not a long-term storage medium. ... There is no surer way to preserve words than by printing them out on acid-free paper, binding them between sturdy covers, and storing them in a building with a constant temperature. In other words, a book in a library.