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Web archiving: Policy and practice
Journal of Digital Media Management,
8
(3),
201-214
(2020)
Abstract
The UC San Diego Library has been collecting and providing access to archived web content since 2007. Initial collections were created on an ad hoc basis, with no highlevel plan to identify websites and content of interest, and there was little documentation of how early collection decisions were made. As time passed, the library’s web archiving efforts increased in scale, and outgrew this informal approach. Efforts were made to standardise web archiving processes and policies via collection request forms and standardised metadata, eventually culminating in the creation of a web archive collection development policy, and collection and quality control workflows and tracking. This article outlines the process of creating these tools, including establishing institutional needs and concerns, evaluating the wider landscape of web archiving policies and norms, and considering sustainable use of available resources. The article also discusses future areas of work to ensure that web content of research and historical interest is captured in full, preserved responsibly, and made accessible even when the original websites have changed or disappeared.
Keywords: web archives; collection development; policy; process; workflows
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Tori Maches is the Digital Archivist at UC San Diego. Her work includes responsibility for UC San Diego’s web archiving efforts, as well as capturing born-digital materials stored on legacy media, and other aspects of digital preservation for born-digital archival materials. Her previous roles include assistant archivist with Concordis LLC, and digital archives programme scholar at UCLA. She is also the Vice-Chair of the Society of American Archivists Web Archiving Section, Vice-Chair of the UC Libraries Born-Digital Common Knowledge Group, and a member of the UC Libraries Web Archiving Common Knowledge Group.
Marlayna Christensen is the University Archivist at UC San Diego. She is responsible for liaising with and collecting select records from campus and affiliated groups. Her previous roles include Reference Librarian for Interlibrary Loan at New York University; Head of Interlibrary Loan and Assistant Head of Circulation Services at Yale University; and Director of Access Services at University of California, Santa Barbara. Over her 30-year career, she has served on a number of professional committees with the Society of American Archivists, the Society of California Archivists, the American Library Association, and within the University of California.
