Annotating Web archives—structure, provenance, and context through archival cataloguing

Abstract

Despite the success of Internet access via search technology, such ease of access is still not available in Web archives, as a greater amount of relevant contextual information is essential in accessing Web archives. The degree of relevance of the contextual information has to be customized to suit research on culture and heritage study over time. Information scientists have long been struggling to find a system that can help them organize Web archives so that users can have access to complete and coherent collections. Lessons can be learned from archivists who have an established tradition of linking materials to its origin and ownership or what is termed provenance. In this paper, we demonstrate how Web Annotation for Web Intelligence, more than just an intuitive way of expressing one's thoughts on the materials under study, is in fact an appropriate tool for cataloguing Web archives in order to ensure a high quality of access for users. Informed by the theory of Records Continuum, a demonstration of access to archived Web materials will be presented. We then recommend an effective way of allowing the continual organization of Web archives based on several design principles for a Web annotation system. This system would preserve the evidence and context of the cataloguing process. Such a tool would also help facilitate collaboration among information professionals in organizing complex Web archives. Implementing the recommended Web annotation system will help ensure better-quality archives with more evidence and contextual information preserved within the system.