'The Short and the Long' of It: Web Archiving at the Folger Shakespeare Library

Jaime McCurryNovember 12, 2013

“The Short and the Long” of It:

Web Archiving at theFolger Shakespeare

Library

National Digital StewardshipResidency Program (NDSR)

MISSION: “To build a dedicated community of professionals who will advance our nation's capabilities

in managing, preserving, and making accessible the digital record of human achievement.”

http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/ndsr/

Project Description:

To establish local routines and best practices for archiving and preserving the Folger’s

born-digital content.

“The mission of the Folger Shakespeare Library is to preserve our collection; to make our collection accessible to scholars and others who can use it productively; and to advance understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare’s

writings and the culture of the early modern world.

Web Archiving at the Folger

Initiative Began: 2011Current Collections: 2

Documents Crawled To-Date: 6,189,247Data Archived To-Date: 429 GB

Archived Since: October 2011Purpose: Preserving the institution’s web presence

Active Seeds: 34Crawl Frequency: Quarterly

Scope: Websites and social media sites from the Folger Shakespeare Library

Types: Folger Website

Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, MySpace)WordPress Blogs

Folger YouTube AccountLuna Imaging Database & Hamnet Bibliographic Catalog

Archived Since: October 2011Active Seeds: 296

Crawl Frequency: Semi-AnnualScope: Websites for drama festivals and theatrical

companies with a focus on Shakespeare performance. Scope primarily limited to the United States, but

includes some international festivals as well.

In the Past: Research on the subject required combing through

- print directories- production files

- newspaper clippings- printed programs

- outdated web directories

“A number of theatrical companies listed in online directories were no longer active by the

time we started our Archive-It activities in 2011.”(Kuhn, Wahl: Folger RBMS Poster, June 2013)

“Have we lost the first decade of Shakespeare on the Web?”

If so, we don’t want to lose the second!

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Progress:

- 64 new seed URLs added to the collection

- Metadata for each seed - Grouped seeds by

location for improved search functioning

Next Step:

- Create a third collection:

International Shakespeare Festivals and

Theatrical Companies

https://infogr.am/Festivals-and-company-websites-by-geographic-location/

RECOMMENDATIONS:

- Communication (Online Strategy Council, Collection Development Committee, Folger Staff and Readers)

Documentation (Archive-It webinar write-ups, Updated Metadata Workflow, Updated Workflow for Adding a

Collection)

Small, Yet Effective: Customized URL, Uploading Folger Logo, “Landing page” on Folger Website

ULTIMATE GOAL: OFFICIAL WEB ARCHIVING POLICY

FUTURE POSSIBILITIES?

- Always keeping in mind potential collection topics:

Examples:

Shakespeare in Education (NY Times ‘Hamlet’ Contest)Scholarly Blogs

University ProgramsReader/Staff Nomination Forms

Etc.

“To thine own self be true.”Hamlet

“Hell is empty, all the devils are here.”The Tempest

“To do a great right, do a little wrong.”Merchant of Venice

“Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.”

The Merry Wives of Windsor

CONTACTJaime McCurry

National Digital Stewardship Residenthttp://[email protected]