From: Alexa Pearce <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2015 15:46:15 -0400

Web Archives 2015: Capture, Curate, Analyze

University of Michigan Library and Bentley Historical Library
Web Archives 2015: Capture, Curate, Analyze
November 12-13, 2015
University of Michigan Central Campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Research in almost all disciplines increasingly relies on evidence
gleaned from websites, social media platforms, and other online
resources.  In addition to documenting the way we live now, such data
offer unique opportunities for corpus analysis, topological studies of
hypertext, automatic image and aesthetic analysis, and other modes of
inquiry that are particularly conducive to born digital content.  As
instructors and scholars embrace these primary sources and discover
new and innovative ways to interact with the data, their efforts are
aligned--knowingly or not--with those of developers and curators.  An
active developer community that includes the Internet Archive and
members of the International Internet Preservation Coalition have
established standards and created tools and infrastructure required to
preserve complex websites and content platforms.  A growing number of
libraries, archives, and other cultural heritage organizations
actively promote best practices as they collect, curate, and
facilitate access to this content.

While each of these communities recognize the web’s significance as an
object and subject of research, questions about their respective
assumptions, methodologies, and practices remain: How do collecting
policies and appraisal decisions shape web archives?  How can web
archives be effectively integrated with classroom instruction and
academic discourse in general?  How do available resources and
technologies influence the extent and success of web captures?  How do
scholars want to access and interact with web archives?  How can
individual scholars ensure that the materials that they need will be
available both for their research and for documenting their work?
What tools can optimize the use and reuse of archived websites and
online materials?  What measures of confidence does the academic
community have in the use of archived websites for research?  How can
librarians, archivists, and technologists preserve the functionality
and utility of complex web resources over the long-term?

Web Archives 2015 takes up these issues from the perspectives of
researchers, developers, and cultural heritage professionals.  This
two-day multi-disciplinary conference will provide a forum to explore
ideas, tools, and methodologies for creating and managing web archives
and better understand the scholarly and research needs of those
working in the field.  By engaging key stakeholders in a common
dialogue, the conference will explore the web archiving landscape,
including creation, use, preservation, and analysis across disciplines
and purposes. We invite submissions from librarians, archivists,
faculty, researchers, developers, practitioners, students, and other
interested parties.

We are especially interested in papers and workshops that address the
following topics:

The role of libraries, archives and museums in building and sustaining
curated web collections.

Methods and tools for preserving and curating online materials.

Resources and best practices to promote access to and use of preserved
websites and social media platforms.

On-demand web archiving and the creation of public web archives for
documenting research.

Descriptive and citation practices for web archives.

Approaches to studying and analyzing web archive data.

Pedagogical strategies for teaching in the archive and with archival data.

Analysis of web and social media materials as cultural documents.

Preservation threats (such as technological and format obsolescence)
that could impact the rendering and use of archived web content over
the long-term.


Possible formats:

Workshops - lead a hands-on session in which you introduce tools,
techniques, or methods to other conference participants (75 minutes in
length)

Paper presentations - present your own research related to topics
listed above (20 minutes)

Panel presentations - curate 3-4 presentations that are thematically
related (75 minutes)

Proposal instructions:

Please send an email with your proposal to [log in to unmask]
Clearly indicate your proposed format and include a 200-300 word
abstract, along with brief biographical statements for each
participant.

Deadline for proposals: May 15, 2015


About the Hosts:

The University of Michigan Library is one of the world's largest
academic research libraries and serves a vibrant university community
that is home to 19 schools and colleges, 100 top ten graduate
programs, and annual research expenditures approaching $1.5 billion a
year. To enable the university's world-changing work and to serve the
public good, the library collects, preserves, and shares the scholarly
and cultural record in all existing and emerging forms, and leads the
reinvention of the academic research library in the digital age.

The Bentley Historical Library collects the materials for and promotes
the study of the histories of two great, intertwined institutions, the
State of Michigan and the University of Michigan.  The library’s
holdings include materials from more than 10,000 individual and
organizational donors and comprise more than 45,000 linear feet of
primary source material, 10,000 maps, 80,000 printed volumes, and 1.5
million photographs in addition to extensive collections of of
digitized and born-digital archives.  The Bentley launched its web
archiving program in 2000 to complement its holdings and advance its
mission of documenting the university and state.  Since joining a
subscription service in 2010, staff have employed essential archival
principles and strategies to create a focused collection of more than
1,500 archived websites, with more than 3.7 TB of data.

Alexa L. Pearce
Librarian for History & American Culture
University of Michigan Library
Ann Arbor, MI 48109