by Stephen Abrams, Head of Digital Preservation
The web has become the preeminent channel for scholarly communication as well as popular, political, and commercial discourse in the 21st century. In keeping with Harvard Library’s longstanding mission to ensure effective long-term stewardship of all materials fundamental to the University’s research, teaching, and learning initiatives, the Library has been actively involved in web archiving since 2006 (https://preservation.library.harvard.edu/web-archiving). Initially, this was done using the Library-developed Web Archiving Collection Service (WAX). In 2018, the Library transitioned its web archiving activity to the Internet Archive’s Archive-It (AIT) subscription service, which provides comprehensive curatorial and discovery environments for the University’s web collections. Currently, 12 Libraries – Archives, HBS/Baker, HDS/Andover, HMS/Countway, GSD/Loeb, HCL/AEOD, Houghton, KSG, Law, MCZ/Mayr, Reischauer, and Schlesinger – rely upon AIT to collect, manage, and provide access to 183 thematic collections encompassing some 23,500 unique websites totaling over 32 TB in size. The HL/AIT relationship is managed by Preservation Services (HLPS), which also provides general programmatic support, consulting, and best practice guidance for web archiving.
Due to the number of individual participating units, the Library holds a consortial membership with AIT, which provides a 20% discount on subscription pricing. The annual subscription was recently renewed by HLPS for the 2020-2021 service year to ensure continuity of local collecting activity with no interruption. Several Library units have taken advantage of AIT’s recently announced COVID incentive program, which provides significant subsidies to increased collection capacity focused on pandemic-related material.
The First Preserved Website: Harvard Physics Department, captured on February 26, 2007, as part of the University Archive’s A-Sites collection.
