A centre of expertise in digital information management UKOLN is supported by: What are the Barriers to Web Resource Preservation? Marieke Guy, UKOLN JISC-PoWR Workshop 27 th June 2008

A centre of expertise in digital information management The Preservation Challenge Accessibility and authenticity Preservation has never been easy People tend to live in the now Web resources present additional challenges So lets look at the excuses…

A centre of expertise in digital information management It’s not a problem… Digital resources do degrade –Operating systems are upgraded and existing applications cease to work –Resources may be dependent on or hosted by external resources which may disappear –Projects end –Links get broken Loss of evidence of institutional activity which is nor recorded elsewhere Danger of not doing anything

A centre of expertise in digital information management It’s not a priority…. We are all suffering from lack of time, expertise and money Web services tend to focus on immediate business requirements such as informational requirements, support for staff and e-learning applications Institutions often wait for others to take the lead Web services are often not interested in preservation while Records Managers are concentrating on other digital resources

A centre of expertise in digital information management It’s not my responsibility… Individual Approach –The author of the resource Institutional Approach –The publisher of the resource –The institution, the institution’s Library National Approach –The Academic Community, Archives, Museums, the Government –Consortiums e.g. UKWAC International Approach –International Organisations e.g Internet Archive –Commercial companies

A centre of expertise in digital information management It’s complicated… The Web is transient and dynamic Web resource’s lifespan is short Web publishing is a very easy process Metadata is very much an afterthought. There is a need to preserve objects, relationships and behaviour There is a gap of understanding between Records Managers and Web services people It’s difficult to know how to get started or what to do Preservation requires a certain skill set

A centre of expertise in digital information management It’s technically complicated… The Web is dependant on technology Cardinality – One or many? Web resources are usually held on just one server, so are at greater risk of removal Areas of the Web are held in problematical CMS or behind authentication systems Robots.txt file Have standards or proprietary formats been used? Has the technical architecture of the Web site been documented? What about Software emulation?

A centre of expertise in digital information management It’s a difficult choice… Selection can be difficult What does a Web site entail? –Public vs private site –Instantiation/snapshot –Code, content or graphical look and feel of site –Full functionality –Preserving the the bits or the essence? Is it worth preserving anyway?

A centre of expertise in digital information management It’s a legal minefield… Many IPR issues: Copyright, database right, defamation, privacy, FOI What about accessibility? Is my Web site legal today? Will my Web site be legal tomorrow, if new legislation is enacted? Who owns the pages? What about pages we don’t own?

A centre of expertise in digital information management And what about Web 2.0? Use of 3 rd party services Emphasis on collaboration and communication, rather than access to resources More resources created by individuals More complex IPR issues Richer diversity of services: RSS, syndicated content These are issues for another day!

A centre of expertise in digital information management And the quick answer is… Need to encourage ownership and institutional responsibility Change in culture Making excuses won’t help We are here to help! More answers in Preservation of Web Resources Part II

A centre of expertise in digital information management Any Questions?