Archiving Websites

The world wide web is an important, and the largest, cultural and commercial information resource in existence. The requirements to preserve selected parts of it, and the problems of archiving it, are beginning. This book offers guidance to information-management professionals seeking to implement web archiving programmes of their own.

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This important book is the first to offer practical guidance to information management professionals seeking to implement web archiving programmes of their own. It is essential reading for those who need to collect and preserve specific elements of the web - from national domains or individual subject areas to an organization's own website. Drawing on the author's experience of managing the National Archives' web archiving programme, together with lessons learned from other international initiatives, this book provides a comprehensive overview of current best practice. It assumes only a basic understanding of IT and web technologies, but also offers much to more technically-oriented readers. Contents include: • the development of web archiving • selection policies • collection methods • quality assurance • preservation • delivery to users • optimizing websites for archiving • legislation • managing a web archiving programme • future trends. Readership: Written to address audiences from the whole spectrum of information management sectors, this book is vital reading for three types of reader: policy-makers, who need to make decisions about establishing or developing an institutional web archiving programme; information management professionals, who may be required to implement a web archiving programme; and website owners and web masters, who may be required to facilitate archiving of their own websites.