Community Webs: Creating Community History Web Archives

Many public libraries have active local history collections and have traditionally collected print materials that document their communities. The ascension of the web as the primary publishing platform, however, has led to this material now being published exclusively on the web. Due to the technical challenges of archiving the web, the lack of training and educational opportunities, and the lack of an active community of public library-based practitioners, very few public libraries are building web archives. This session will review the Internet Archive's new program to provide education, training, professional networking, and technical services to enable public libraries to fulfill this vital role.