Web archiving is important not only for future research but also for organisations' records management processes. There are technical, organisational, legal and social issues that Web archivists need to address, some general and some specific to types of content or archiving operations of a given scope. Many of these issues are being addressed in current research and development projects, as are questions concerning how archived Web material may integrate with the live Web.
The value of preserving snapshots of the Web for future reference and study was quickly recognised, with the Internet Archive and the National Library of Sweden both starting their large-scale harvests of Web sites in 1996. Since that time, Web archiving – the selection, collection, storage, retrieval, and maintenance of the integrity of Web resources – has become more widespread, assisted by ever more advanced tools, but perfecting the process is something of a moving target, both in terms of the quantities involved and the sophistication and complexity of the subject material. This is without factoring in the growing demands of the research questions for which the archived material might be expected to act as evidence.
The Blue Ribbon task force considers a ‘supply and demand’ view of how individuals and organisations might manage their digital collections.
The study argues that there should be incentives for people to preserve information in the public interest, perhaps to keep a digital fingerprint of a precious manuscript or observational weather data from a scientific centre now closed.
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