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Re: capturing websites



On Wed, 7 Mar 2001 11:44:00 -0600 Lisa May <LMAY@DIOCESE-GAL-HOU.ORG>
writes:
> A question for those of you capturing your institution's website:  how
often do you do so?  Every month, every quarter, when there are  major
changes to the site?  Who decided on the schedule?
>
Lisa--

I can't see that "capturing" web sites on a fixed schedule can ever be
very satisfactory.  I think a more appropriate system is one which deals
with web-sites in accordance with standard archival and records
management principles.

Web sites are, after all, intrinsically hierarchical records,
particularly those that are created for large institutions.  The Home
page of such a site is liable to direct one to departmental pages, which
then direct one to specific subject area pages, which themselves quite
often then direct the user to specific policy or information pages.  In
this we can see the archival structure of series, subseries, files and
items quite clearly.   Normally, the pointers on the higher pages will be
kept intact and a new file will be inserted under the address of the
pointer.

[This is where the policy of not allowing attachments gets tricky, but
lets try to illustrate this with text-only  Switch your screen to Courier
font...:]

HOME....hot button 1....hot button 2....hot button 3....etc.
            |                |               |
        Dept. Pg. 1      Dept. Pg. 2       etc.
        ____|________________
        |         |          |
    Topic 1     Topic 2    Topic 3
        |
    3 Jan 02 -|
    7 Feb 02  |-This information should be in the metadata of the page
    9 Feb 02 -|
      etc.

If the Web pages are managed with such a scheme in mind, the description
created by the WebMaster of the institution will agree with this archival
structure.  In point of fact, most WebMaster have had experience with
structured programming techniques and will already be creating something
structured like this OR AT LEAST will be very open to adjusting their web
pages to this sort of structure.

For search engines, CGI scripts, etc., one should keep the script used as
a subfile of the page upon which it appears, with notes as to when it was
in use in the metadata.  The databases from which the scripts operate may
have to be captured on a regular schedule, if they are TRULY dynamic.  If
these databases are updates incrementally, they may be stored in the same
manner as any other series material.  If not, regular "captures" should
be made and explicit explanations of the rationale for such capture
should be given in the finding aid.

The main requirement is agreement between the Archivist, Records Manager,
and WebMaster(s) on the following:
  A.  A system of name authority for files, pages, etc.
  B.  An agreement on distinguishing data to be placed in the metadata
(dates, authorship, etc.)
  C.  An agreement that every new page posted, including pages with only
minor changes, should be forwarded to the preserving authority (the
archivist) at the time of posting.

Using this technique, series can be described using EAD or other standard
descriptive methods.  In the unlikely event that some future researcher
wishes to reconstruct what an entire web site looked like on a particular
day, there is enough metadata preserved for such a reconstruction.  For
more common research, regulations and informational materials of a
similar nature will appear stored together (if that means anything in the
guts of a computer...)

At least that's my 2 cents worth.


John Howard Fowler, PhD, MLIS
Consulting Archivist
3221 W. 177th
Torrance, CA  90504-4003
310-327-5848

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