Can you save the web? Web Archiving!

Can we save the web?
WEB ARCHIVING
Vangelis Banos
http://vbanos.gr/
Unconference, 9-10 Δεκεμβρίου 2013

• What do you mean?
• What is web archiving;

• The practical use of web archives.
• Making your own web archive.

What is the World Wide Web?

A huge collection of digital documents (websites) which are
stored on special computers (web servers),
interconnected with each other.

What is on the web?

What isn’t on
the web?

Why save the web?
1. More and more items are born digital only material!
2. Some websites contain unique data and valuable
information.
–

Users take action and make important decisions based
on this information.

3. The web is a live record of contemporary:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Society,
Culture,
Science,
Economy.

4. Responsibility to preserve the web.
5. Transparency is promoted by saving the web.

Isn’t the web already safe?
• The answer is: NOT really!
• Websites are in danger:
– Organisations that maintain them stop caring about
them,
– Organisations than maintain them cease to exist,
– Natural disasters destroy computer facilities (fires,
floods, storms, etc)
– Technical problems damage websites (bugs, computer
viruses, backup failures, hardware failures)
– Their data are tampered on purpose!!! for many
reasons (political, financial, crime, etc)

A major blog hosting company was shut down
by the U.S. Authorities

Natural disasters cause data center problems

Websites are tampered all the time

Web Archiving

The Internet
Archive has
backups

MTSR 2013, 22 Nov 2013, Thessaloniki

18

WEB ARCHIVING
The process of collecting portions of
the World Wide Web to ensure the
information is preserved in an
archive for future researchers,
historians, and the public.

Challenges
• How it is done technically?
• What should I choose to archive?
– The whole website? some pages? Some files only?

• What do I want to do with the web archive I’m
creating?
• Who will have access?
• Who is the owner of the web archive content?

Archiving web pages is a technical challenge

File(s)

Software

Hardware

RECORD

Generic file archiving operation

Archiving web pages is a technical challenge
File(s)
File(s)
Software

File(s)
File(s)

Software

Hardware

File(s)
Software
File(s)
File(s)

Web archiving operation

Website

How it is done?

• Possible web archiving targets:
–
–
–
–

Government websites, Educational institutions,
People’s suggestions, Currently popular websites,
Popular media, Big companies,
Special events

Who is working on web archiving?

Many important organisations work on
web archiving since 1996.

International Internet Preservation Consortium
• IIPC Members
–
–
–
–
–

National Libraries,
Academic Libraries,
Cultural Organisations,
Universities,
Software development companies

• Web Archiving Timeline
– http://timeline.webarchivists.org/

Obligation of the National Library
• According to UNESCO:
– «a national library is responsible for the
collection and storage of the national
cultural heritage».

• In Greece, accoding to law No.3149/03:
– «publishers or authors (when there is no
publisher) of any printed material, are
obliged to submit three copies of their work
to the National Library of Greece. This
obligation also includes audiovisual and epublishing material».

• What about the Greek web?

Bibliothèque nationale de France
2006: legal deposit extended to
“signs, signals, writings,
images, sounds or messages of
any kind communicated to the
public by electronic means”.

The goal is not to gather the «best of the web»,
but to preserve a collection representative of the web
at a certain date.

• What do you mean?
• What is web archiving?

• The practical use of web archives.
• Making your own web archive.

Visiting the Internet Archive
• http://archive.org/

Internet Archive activities
• Key features, browsing, searching.
• Indicative web sites:
– Υπουργείο Παιδείας, 3 Jul 2010,
www.minedu.gov.gr
– Υπουργείο Ανάπτυξης, 21 Dec 2009
http://www.ypoian.gr/
– The White House, 7 Apr 2000,
http://www.whitehouse.gov
– BBC, 11 Sept 2001, http://www.bbc.co.uk/

Visiting Archive-It
• http://archive-it.org/

Archive-It activities
• Key features, browsing, searching, collections.
• Examples:
– Egypt Revolution and politics, American University
in Cairo,
– 2008 Beijing Olympic games,
– Lybian Uprisings, University of Michigan,
– Venice Biennale 2013

HTTrack website copier
http://www.httrack.com

Making your own web archive
• Using HTTrack software (Open Source)
– Installation
– Practical advice
– Features
– Usage scenarios
• Archive http://2013.futurelibrary.gr/
• Archive http://www.auth.gr/

Things worth considering
• Set Limits
– Filters to define the file types you want to copy.
– Bandwidth limits & Connection limits to avoid overloading the
site you are archiving AND avoid saturating your library network.
– Time limits

• Check the size of the files you have downloaded.
• Plan for disk space according to your needs.
• Check target website copyrights. Are you allowed to:
– Archive for personal use?
– Archive for public use in library computers?
– Archive to publish on the web?

• If you are not sure, please ask the website owner before
beginning web archiving.

Scenario: create your own mini web
archive in your library on a shoestring.
• Equipment:
– Typical Windows computer with the biggest possible hard
disk. (The more ΤΒ, the better).
– Equal backup disk (e.g. External USB hard disk).
– DSL Internet connection.
– HTTRACK open source software

• Select important local websites.
• Get permissions from website owners if necessary.
• Setup a regular web archiving schedule (e.g. Once per
month).
• Provide information and access to the web archive in
your library’s local computers for the public.


YES WE CAN!
• Questions?
• Thank you for your attention 
• Contact:
– Web: http://vbanos.gr
– Email: vbanos@gmail.com
– Twitter: @vbanos

Can you save the web? Web Archiving!

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