Lightning Paper at HEAnet National Conference 2015. 12 November 2015. Cork, Ireland

1. Archiving The Social Media Presence of
‘The River-side’
HEAnet | 12 November 2015
Elaine Harrington | Special Collections Librarian
University College Cork

2. The Riverside
http://blogs.ucc.ie/wordpress/theriverside/
@theriversideUCC

3. Content on Social Media
Which invaluable, indispensable and priceless tool helps you carry out
the work your profession demands?
"What I can't I live without: ‘Access to the archives.’ My greatest fear:
what will email (even worse, social media) do to the future of
archives?"
Professor Michael Cullinane, University of Wisconsin
"Honestly, Facebook and other social media have become pretty
indispensable for me as a professional historian. I'm able to engage in
ongoing discussions and debates, set up panels for conferences, and
ask for advice from colleagues all over the world, in real time, with
incredible ease."
Professor C. Joseph Genetin-Pilawa, George Mason University
http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/160465

4. Historical Events
http://digital.wustl.edu/ferguson/
http://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SYSqGQzBvV
#CharlestonShooting Tweets

5. Why Is Preservation Important?
As with #CharlestonShootings and Documenting
Ferguson internet memory loss creates a cultural
vacuum.
Information contained within may be used for
activities not yet considered:
•19th
century ship logs used for research on climate
change.

6. Preserving Paper?
Aquinas, Thomas. Incipiu[n]t preclarissima opuscula diui Thome
aquinatis sacri ordinis p[re]dicato[rum] in quibus o[mn]is
ph[ilosophi]e [&] diuina[rum] scriptura[rum] theoremata est
co[m]plexus. [Venice: Hermann Lichtenstein, 1497].

7. I Need An Ark!
Numbers of social media platforms are growing
exponentially.
Again paper is a known quantity: linear feet or m2
.
What space is needed for digital content?
“Noah’s Ark.”
Maurizio Abbate.

8. Not One Type

9. What Is Digital Preservation?
Source: DPTP Slides

10. Other Institutions’ Activities
Web Archiving Including Blogs
•UK Web Archive (British Library)
•National Library of Ireland
Twitter
•Library of Congress & Twitter (2010): create an archive of all public
tweets.
•National Archives and Records Administration White Paper on Best
Practices for the Capture of Social Media Records (2013)
•New Zealand National Library: Awareness and Use of the New Zealand
Web Archive (2015)
•DRI & Digital Humanities and Journalism Group: Investigating social
media archiving (2015)

11. Name Used by Use
Internet Archive
Internet Memory UK Parliament
Archivematica
Web Curator Tool
Heretrix
Figshare Sarah Gallagher Data harvest
@mhawksey Twitter
Archiving Google
Spreadsheet TAGS v5.
Sarah Gallagher Data harvest
Tools for Capture
List of tools: http://www.digipres.org/tools/ubergrid/

12. Trusted Digital Repository
No one trusted digital repository into which archival materials can
be ingested, stored, and accessed.
Terms of service for nearly every free platform or low cost webhost
make absolutely no promises regarding digital preservation or
even the return of content to users in even of business failure or
decisions to eliminate the service.
Institutions creating own software packages to support archival
processes. E.g. Stanford ePADD supports archival processes
around the appraisal, ingest, processing, discovery, and delivery
of email archives.

13. Further Challenges
Material
•Remit: all or a selection. Conduct a social media preservation assessment needs’
survey.
•Copyright for archival purposes
•Ownership of content
•Frequency of collection
Ethics:
•Policies on privacy for social media.
Process:
•Staffing
•Skills: Technical expertise.
Storage space:
•Project requirements.
Access:
•How will be the archived content be used?
•Who can access it?
•Where can it be accessed?
•How locate records?

14. Where We’re Going…
DPTP: Approach to digital preservation should be
modular and flexible to ensure it is sustainable.
Thoughts for the future:
•Avoid duplication of effort
•Legislation
•Ever-changing landscape
Darwin, Charles.
“Tree of Life.”

15. Bibliography
Aquinas, Thomas. Incipiu[n]t preclarissima opuscula diui Thome aquinatis sacri ordinis p[re]dicato[rum] in
quibus o[mn]is ph[ilosophi]e [&] diuina[rum] scriptura[rum] theoremata est co[m]plexus. [Venice: Hermann
Lichtenstein, 1497].
#CharlestonShooting Tweets. Accessed 1st
November 2015.
http://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SYSqGQzBvVAJEMUmoCryvE2dpkrtzKkLEbi7O9gSRmg/edit?pli=1#gid=1251114053
Darwin, Charles. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or, the Preservation of Favoured
Races in the Struggle for Life. London: John Murray, 1859.
Death of Fionavar tweet. Accessed 3rd
November 2015.
http://twitter.com/theriversideUCC/status/661485110810820609
Documenting Ferguson. Accessed 10th
August 2015. http://digital.wustl.edu/ferguson/
First National Survey on Irish Journalists’ Use of Social Media Launched
http://dri.ie/first-irish-survey-journalists-use-social-media-launched
Gallagher, Sarah. “Archiving Tweets.” Accessed 12 October 2015.
http://sarahlibrarina.tumblr.com/post/98285757460/archiving-tweets-thanks-mhawksey
Sarah Gallagher is Subject Librarian University of Otago, New Zealand. @SarahLibrarina

16. Bibliography (2)
National Library of Ireland Web Archiving: http://www.nli.ie/en/web_archive.aspx
New Zealand National Library: Awareness and Use of the New Zealand Web Archive (2015)
https://natlib.govt.nz/librarians/reports-and-research/use-of-the-nz-web-archive
“Noah’s Ark.” Photographed: Maurizio Abbate. https://www.flickr.com/photos/occhiovivo/350441273/
ePADD (Stanford University) Accessed 30th
July 2015. https://library.stanford.edu/projects/epadd
“Things Historians Can’t Live Without.” 20th
September 2015. History News Network. Accessed: 21st
September 2015. http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/160465
UK Web Archive: http://www.webarchive.org.uk/ukwa/