Systems Interoperability and Collaborative Development for Web Archiving - Filling Gaps in the IMLS National Digital Platform

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) awarded a National Leadership Grant, in the National Digital Platform category, to a proposal by Internet Archive’s Archive-It, Stanford University Libraries (DLSS and LOCKSS), University of North Texas, and Rutgers University. The $353,221 grant will support the project “Systems Interoperability and Collaborative Development for Web Archiving,” a two-year research project to test economic and community models for collaborative technology development, prototype system integration through development of Export APIs, and build community participation in web archiving development and new research and access tools.

The project supports the National Digital Platform funding priority of IMLS by increasing access to shared services and infrastructure while building capacity for broader community input in technology development. Project outcomes will promote system integration, facilitate increased distributed preservation of archived data, and help support new global and local access models possible through export APIs, with an eye towards modeling post-grant interoperable systems architectures. Archive-It’s status as widely-used, shared web archiving infrastructure ensures broad community impact and makes possible the involvement of institutions of all sizes in project work. The involvement of Stanford University Libraries builds on their work in the Hydra community and with digital preservation services. UNT contributes experience in digital library and web archiving technology development and Rutgers’ work on research uses of web archives ensures the involvement of downstream user communities. Overall, the project will lay the groundwork for future collaboration around interoperability that will enhance the integration of disparate systems, increase local preservation, and improve the discoverability and use of web archives.

Mark Phillips of UNT and Courtney Mumma of IA will describe the grant and provide an update about the work completed in the first six months of activity. Attendees will be invited to participate in an active and growing community, a key component in the grant’s success and the work’s sustainability.