Reborn digital and black box – impact of archiving processes on holdings of Web archives

Abstract

The article contemplates general characteristics of holdings of various Web archives. Understanding the problem formed in the title seems to be crucial for reflections on this new type of sources and using it research. A user aiming at familiarizing with the old Web must know what is stored in this type of digital repositories and what characterizes these holdings. The problem was presented on two levels, related to two stages of archiving – selection and acquisition. The first aspect, of theoretical character, depends mostly on gathering sources using the method of harvesting (with crawlers). Their capabilities and limitations result in what will be archived and in what form. It must be noted, that this can lead to a certain deformation of Web sources, thus after archiving they will not be exactly what they were before. The second aspect, of practical character, is an effect of selection, i.e. all decisions made by archives’ employees before the process of gathering starts. These decisions comprise of, among others, specifying the aim and scope of archiving and choosing strategies to accomplish them. The text presents two basic strategies – mass archiving and selective archiving. An important obstacle for Web archives users is lack of information about selection criteria or crawlers’ logs. Holdings of the old Web can be a kind of mystery, because not always one can describe, what is in them and what is not, and what is the reason for this state.