Our reading for digital collections class has made me acutely aware of the need to have a method of handling Web-based information.  Hard copy material is fairly static; but Web availability is constantly changing.  The site may become obsolete over time.  The information on the site may be updated regularly making one uncertain that the information previously found is exactly the same as the version originally located.  

I found an article by Kathleen Muray and Inga Hsieh that describes the Web-at-Risk project–a preservation project funded by the Library of Congress.  The LOC’s mission is to preserve cultural artifacts and provide access to them.  Focus groups were held as part of the project; the article outlines issues identified.  Some ideas presented that caught my attention include:

.  There are different approaches to web archiving–the harvesting-based approach, the selective approach, and the deposit approach or a combination of more than one of these approaches.   There are pros and cons to each archiving approach; the combination approach seems the most logical;

.  The Government Print Office is having to adjust their procedures by developing a content management system to keep all the Web-based information; 

.  Libraries have taken the responsibility of archiving, but should it be their job to archive all the Web-based informaiton?  Resources are limited as we have discussed.  Perhaps others who initially publish the information should have some responsibility as well; 

.  Cataloging and the application of metadata to be able to locate and retrieve archived information will be a big challenge;

.  The format in which the information is saved; should it be the original?

.  Is there/should there be a shared directory or registry service to go to to know if Web collections are already being archived?

.  Perhaps funding agencies should require recipients to address the preservation of any digital or Web-published information resulting from the project.

 

 Murray, Kathleen R and Inga K. Hsieh.  “Archiving Web-published materials: A needs assessment of librarians, researchers, and content providers. Government Information Quarterly 25 (January 2008): 66-89.