Web Archiving
Research and Development
CUL pursues web archiving as an ongoing research interest that targets a core concern about the longevity of web resources of all kinds – those generated by faculty, administration, and staff, and websites that supplement, constitute, or contain content for CUL’s digital collections. Our research activities include the development of a web tool inventory with representative examples of each tool type in our testbed. For more information on web archiving research activities see:
- Virtual Remote Control – risk management for web resources
- Political Communications Web Archiving
Digital Preservation Scope
Web resources fit within the scope of CUL’s Digital Preservation Policy Framework (pdf): under each aspect of the five-fold mandate and in the scope as a priority 1 for born digital materials, though content of websites to be preserved may include digitized material as well.
Implementation
CUL has three current case studies underway to establish the requisite policies and procedures for web archiving. The test cases include a large website from one of the colleges where a major renovation of their website is underway; the website of a well-known computer science researcher for deposit at CUL, and one of CUL’s own websites that recently underwent a major redesign. These test cases are part of a core CUL initiative to develop a sustainable OAIS-based depository over the next three years – the Common Depository System. Results of the test cases and relevant policies and procedures will be available on the Common Depository website. We anticipate that our web archiving activities will develop rapidly with the ongoing expansion of CUL’s digital collections that are resident on and available via CUL websites and with system-wide interest in archiving websites of all kinds.