Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives

Conference, Aarhus University (DK), 8-10 June 2015

Organised by RESAW, Aarhus University, the State and University Library (Denmark), the Royal Library (Denmark), l’Institut des sciences de la communication du CNRS, Université de Lille 3, the Institute of Historical Research (University of London), the University of Amsterdam, the British Library, and Leibniz University Hannover/ALEXANDRIA.

Tweets from the conference, via Storify, thanks to Jane Winters for having set this up.


 

Submission & registration is closed

Important dates

  • June 2014: first call for submissions
  • September 2014: second call for submissions and submissions open
  • 1 November 2014: third call for submissions
  • 8 December 2014: submissions due
  • 19 January: notification of acceptance
  • 9 March 2015: registration and paper upload open
  • 20 April 2015: papers uploaded, registrations for presenters close
  • 4 May 2015: programme is released
  • 18 May 2015: registration for non-presenters close
  • 8-10 June 2015: conference

Programme and papers

3rd version of the programme is now (7 June) available for download: Resaw conference programme v.3.

All papers are available for download for participants at http://events.netlab.dk/conference/index.php/resaw/june2015/schedConf/presentations. Please notice that non-presenters also have to register in the conference system in order to  access the full papers.

Practicalities

Participation as well as coffee and lunch are free of charge. Participants must pay for dinner, travel and accomodation themselves.

Information about travel and hotels.

Venue and number of participants

The conference will be hosted by Aarhus University, Denmark, and the number of participants is limited to a maximum of 100.

Conference venue: The conference will take place at INCUBA, Åbogade 15, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark.

Keynote speakers

meghan_small
Meghan Dougherty, Loyola University, Chicago
Virtual Digs: Finding a Material Record of Information Culture in Web Archives
Web archives preserve artifacts of rich lives lived with information. When we archive traces of behaviors online, what are we collecting? How do we conceptualize what we collect? How do we study these artifacts?
In a very practical sense, we can say researchers ‘dig through’ these materials. We search. We piece together fragments. We struggle to organize, sort, and find something in our data.
These artifacts and the lives they are evidence of constitute what could be considered a virtual archeological field. Archaeological practices can be a valuable guide for a broader discussion of research methods in Web history.
This keynote talk aims to critically interrogate what is – and is not – present for researchers to collect, archive, and observe, what ‘counts’ as data, and suggests alternatives to the surge toward “data,” big or small.
Ditte Laursen portræt
PerMoeldrup-Dalum
Ditte Laursen & Per Møldrup-Dalum, Netarkivet, the national Danish web archive
Looking back, looking forward: 10 years of development to collect, preserve and access the Danish Web
Digital heritage archiving is an ongoing activity that requires commitment, involvement and cooperation between heritage institutions and policy makers as well as producers and users of information. In this presentation, we will address how a web archive is created over time as well as what or who drives the development of a web archive. Empirically, we will look back on the 10 years of development to collect, preserve and access the Danish web, in the Danish national web archive called Netarkivet. In particular, we will address how a web archive is created and re-created over time in relation to 1) the development of the scope of the collection, 2) archival management practices, and 3) methods of accessing the archive. All three aspects can be looked at in the view of one of the biggest challenges many web archives face: The ever growing size of the archive. In addition, we will address how we see the development of the web archive in the near future. Findings are relevant for curators and researchers interested in the web archive as a historical source.

Paper formats

  • Short papers: A written paper of no more than 1,500 words must be handed in before the conference (the paper will be made available for all participants). To encourage discussion the following format is used: presenter (10 min.), commentator (5 min.), open discussion (5 min.).
  • Long papers: A written paper of no more than 2,500 words must be handed in before the conference (the paper will be made available for all participants). To encourage discussion the following format is used: presenter (15 min.), commentator (5 min.), open discussion (10 min.).
  • Panel sessions: consisting of three short papers, introduced by a chair.

There are no other requirements with regard to the format. Presenters will be asked to act as commentator on one other paper in the same session.

Call for contributions (closed)

In March 2014, the web celebrated its twenty-fifth birthday. This vast information resource is of enormous importance to scholars, both as a primary source and as a means of networking and communication. It is, however, strikingly ephemeral, and much important data has already been lost. The archiving of this vast range of material, so that it is accessible to both contemporary and future researchers, increasingly occupies national memory institutions, and researchers are also beginning to realise and explore its value. This conference seeks to explore the potential of web archives for scholarly use, to highlight innovative research, to investigate the challenges and opportunities of working with the archived web, to identify opportunities for incorporating web archives in learning and teaching, and to discuss and inform archival provision. This multi-disciplinary conference is aimed at scholars, web archiving institutions, web archivists, curators, IT-developers, companies and public institutions interested in web archiving and research using web archives. In conjunction with the overall topic of web archives, general areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • the history(ies) of the web
  • the changing structure of the web
  • material culture and display in a digital context
  • political and literary reputation online
  • public engagement online
  • patterns of culture online
  • networks of social communication
  • the evolution of language on the web
  • the history of institutions and organisations online
  • the history of social and political movements on the web
  • the relationship between image, sound and text online
  • the web as a forum for commemoration
  • health and education online
  • using web archives in the classroom
  • national/international boundaries online
  • approaches to web archiving
  • research methods for studying the archived web
  • providing access to the archived web

This list is not exhaustive, and we are keen to attract the widest possible range of topics.

Submissions (closed)

Submissions are welcomed from all sectors and disciplines, and we would particularly encourage postgraduate students and early career researchers to apply.

  • Short papers – individual papers of 20 minutes’ length (short abstract, of no more than 500 words, and a one-page CV). A written paper of no more than 1,500 words must be handed in before the conference (the paper will be made available for all participants). Presenters will be asked to act as commentator on one other paper in the same session. To encourage discussion the following format is used: presenter (10 min.), commentator (5 min.), open discussion (5. min.).
  • Long papers – individual papers of 30 minutes’ length (short abstract, of no more than 500 words, and a one-page CV). A written paper of no more than 2,500 words must be handed in before the conference (the paper will be made available for all participants). Presenters will be asked to act as commentator on one other paper in the same session. To encourage discussion the following format is used: presenter (15 min.), commentator (5 min.), open discussion (10. min.).
  • Panel sessions – consisting of three short papers, introduced by a chair (short abstract for each paper, of no more than 500 words, a brief description of the purpose of the session, and a one-page CV for all speakers)
  • Posters and demonstrations (short abstract, of no more than 300 words, and a one-page CV).
  • Workshops (a 350-word rationale for the workshop, including discussion of why the topic lends itself to a workshop format, and a two-page CV for the workshop organiser(s)).

Acceptance will be on the basis of double-blind peer review.

Programme Chairs

  • Helen Hockx-Yu, British Library
  • Ditte Laursen, Netarkivet, The State and University Library, Denmark
  • Janne Nielsen, NetLab and the Centre for Internet Studies, Aarhus  University
  • Valérie Schafer, ISCC (Institute for communication sciences), CNRS, Paris-Sorbonne, UPMC.
  • Jane Winters, Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London

Organising Committee

  • Anat Ben-David, Digital Methods Initiative, University of Amsterdam
  • Niels Brügger, NetLab and the Centre for Internet Studies, Aarhus  University
  • Helen Hockx-Yu, British Library
  • Ditte Laursen, Netarkivet, The State and University Library, Denmark
  • Wolfgang Nejdl, L3S Research Center and Leibniz Universität Hannover
  • Janne Nielsen, NetLab and the Centre for Internet Studies, Aarhus  University
  • Richard Rogers, Digital Methods Initiative, University of Amsterdam
  • Valérie Schafer, Institute for Communication Sciences, French National Center for Scientific Research (ISCC, CNRS)
  • Marta Severo, Laboratoire GERiiCO – Université de Lille 3
  • Jane Winters, Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London
  • Eld Zierau, Netarkivet, Royal Library, Denmark

ihrcnrslogobl
university_of_amsterdaml3snetarkivetlogonetlab

About RESAW

RESAW is the ‘Research Infrastructure for the Study of Archived Web Materials’. The RESAW group consists of European national web archives as well as leading research communities studying the archived web. RESAW aims to:

  • bridge the gap between the growing number of web archiving institutions, which hold an increasingly significant part of 21st-century cultural heritage, and a fast developing range of research communities and individual researchers for whom these archived materials are of importance.
  • establish a trans-national European research infrastructure with a view to creating easy trans-national virtual access to web archives; a robust, sustainable and dynamic research infrastructure tailored to fit users’ needs; robust network structures for trans-national collaboration; a portfolio of training courses and structures for the exchange of personnel; and well-established collaborations with international stakeholders.

The RESAW group will be co-ordinating a number of activities in 2014-15, including a PhD seminar, and a range of pilot projects (e.g. how the internet domain .eu can be archived). Read more on resaw.eu.

Sponsors

The conference is funded by the Danish Digital Humanities Lab and the Centre for Internet Studies, Aarhus University.
DigHumLab logocfi