A technical and commercial method of managing information is provided including an endowment fund associated with each of the plurality of information or intellectual property (IP) to be archived. The endowment fund assures the maintenance and storage of the archived IP. Further, the endowment fund is managed separately from the user fees to ensure its enduring integrity and long term viability, with the user fees being applicable to user's access to the IP through an electronic communications network. Endowment funds for archived IP can be pooled for increased permanence. User's access to the archived IP can be managed including assignment of an access level and a cost for access. Users can access and amend a value-added access file associated with, yet separate from, the archived IP.