jisc-powr project: web 1.0 preservation

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk www.bath.ac.uk1

UKOLN is supported by:

The JISC PoWR ProjectPreserving Web 1.0 Resources

Marieke Guy, UKOLNIWMW 2008

23rd July 2008



The JISC-PoWR Project• JISC Preservation of Web Resources project• Focus on digital preservation issues of relevance to UK

HE/FE Web management community • 5 months (May – September 2008)• 2 partners: UKOLN and ULCC + friendly lawyer• Aim is to raise awareness amongst the Web manager

community of the need to incorporate preservation strategy into key stages of the web management process

• Identify, share and seek to embed best practices!• 3 Workshops: London, Aberdeen, Manchester,• Key resources: briefing papers, case studies and handbook• Blog - http://jiscpowr.jiscinvolve.org/



Why Bother Preserving?

• Preservation challenge• Preservation has never been easy, people tend to live in the

now• Web resources present additional challenges• Why bother?

– Uniqueness– Audit– Authenticity– Money– Heritage– Embarrassment!



The Challenges

• Low priority• Unsure on whose responsibility it is• Complicated – Web is big, transient, dynamic• Gap of understanding between different communities• What do we preserve? Selection decisions• What makes a Web site (bits or essence)?• Technical issues and dependencies• Legal issues• Is it worth preserving anyway?• Web 2.0



Scenario 1: Your Home Page

• It is your institution’s anniversary… • Would like an example of how the institution’s Web site has

developed since launch • Currently only anecdotal evidence/tacit knowledge

– CMS brought in, search added– Changes in navigation, branding– Accessibility, language, content– Interactive elements, multimedia

• Use the Internet Archive’s Way Back machine• PicLens plugin, automated rolling display



http://jiscpowr.jiscinvolve.org/2008/06/20/the-history-of-the-university-of-bath-home-page/



Scenario 2: Losing Content

• The funding finishes• Project staff leave, partnership dissolves• Hosting agency upgrades operating system, resulting in scripts

to access resources from backend database are broken• User finds page with invitation to project launch and travels to

meeting. Event took place in 2002!• Invoice for domain name is not paid, as administrator has left • Web site domain taken over by porn company• Prime Minister picks up pen containing project URL and visits

pornographic Web site



It Has Happened: Webtechs• Software company which

hosted early HTML validation service

• In 1998/99 confusion over payment of domain name

• March 1999 company receives many messages saying validation service is now a porn site

• Over 30,000 links to Web site!• Sept 1999 porn company

agrees to sell domain name back to Webtech

See <http://www.exploit-lib.org/issue1/webtechs/>See <http://www.exploit-lib.org/issue1/webtechs/>



Facing the Challenges

• 1) Protect Web site short to medium term– Mothball your Web site– Get senior management on board

• 2) Manage Web site content as part of an RM programme– Identify your resources– Collaborate – University of Bath RM and WS Director– Choose the appropriate approach (or approaches) – You may not need to keep everything

• 3) Preserve Web sites and Web resources permanently – Something for the future



Mothballing Your Web Site (1)

• Run a link check across the Web site. • Fix broken internal links and external links • Run HTML (and CSS) validation checks across the Web site. • Run an accessibility check across the Web site. .• You should also address technical areas:

– Remove any backend scripts which are no longer needed (e.g. online booking forms for old events).

– Remember that scripts, etc. are liable to go wrong. Ensure that applications are configured to break gracefully and provide meaningful errors

See <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/documents/briefings/briefing-04/>

See <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/documents/briefings/briefing-04/>



This Web si

te is no lo

nger maintained.

This Web si

te is no lo

nger maintained.

See home page for d

etails

See home page for d

etails

Mothballing Your Web Site (2)

• You should also address the content of your Web site• Clarify the status of the Web site on the home page.• Ensure the tense of the content reflects the position i.e. don't

say "This project will …"• Ensure that contact details will remain valid i.e. provide

generic email addresses not an individuals• Remember that many users will arrive deep in your Web site

(e.g. using Google). • If necessary use CSS to flag all pages with a watermark

Web

1.0



Mothballing Toolkit• UKOLN developed a

QA methodology by QA Focus work which was funded by JISC

• We developed a lightweight self-assessment toolkit

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/toolkit/mothballing-01/

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/toolkit/mothballing-01/

Web

1.0



Any Questions?



Breakout Session 1

Reflecting on some of the issues mentioned, in groups think

about Embedding Best Practices.

• What are the barriers to implementing a Web Resource Preservation Strategy in your Institution?

• How can you address these barriers?• How can you take some of the techniques mentioned and

apply them within your institution?

jisc-powr project: web 1.0 preservation

Technology

web site domain

institutions web site

pornographic web site

web site bits

details web

complicated web

porn site

web management process