Facilitating User Access through the Extraction of Documents from Digital Archives

The University of North Texas maintains an archive of defunct government websites known as the CyberCemetery. In conjunction with the Government Printing Office (GPO) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the UNT Libraries provide permanent public access to U.S. Government publications from a variety of federal agencies and commissions that are no longer in existence. Recently, the UNT Libraries have begun to extract documents embedded within the vast collection of web archives. Many of these documents include reports and hearing transcripts from the committees and agencies that comprise the collection. The extraction of these documents is beneficial not only to the community of UNT but to the public by facilitating access to a wide variety of documents. Through this project, the UNT Digital Library expands its role as a steward of digital resources in addition to promoting the tenant of accessibly. The poster will present the workflow of the document extraction process from the web archives, in addition to highlighting the significance of the project in facilitating access, preserving publications, and improving the quality of service provided to the UNT community and the public. An analysis of relevant user access data will be included as well as future prospects for the scope and development of the project.