WARCnet and the UK Web Archive
By Jason Webber, Web Archiving Engagement Manager
We at the UK Web Archive (UKWA) have recently taken part in a new initiative called WARCnet led by the University of Aarhus in Denmark (and funded by Independent Research Fund Denmark).
“The aim of the WARCnet network is to promote high-quality national and transnational research that will help us to understand the history of (trans)national web domains and of transnational events on the web, drawing on the increasingly important digital cultural heritage held in national web archives.”
The majority of participants are researchers currently using web archives as part of their studies, many with extensive experience and others new to the field. This makes this an exciting project to be part of as it is an excellent way for content holders such as UKWA to be able to work closely with a group of researchers and try and understand their needs and challenges. The project had a kick-off meeting in May 2020 that was originally intended to be in person but took place virtually. All the speakers pre-recorded their talks which does now mean that these are now all available (including one by myself). I’d particularly recommend viewing the two keynote speakers Matthew S. Weber and Ian Milligan.
Working Groups
It is intended for any outcomes from WARCnet to be driven by the participants themselves and to this end four working groups have been formed:
- Working Group 1 - Comparing entire web domains
- Working Group 2 - Analysing transnational events
- Working group 3 - Digital research methods and tools
- Working group 4 - Research data management across borders
The UKWA team is involved with each of the first three working groups, all of which have met in the last weeks to see how we can take this project forward. You can read more about each group here.
There are at least three more small conferences planned (currently as in person), one later this year in Luxembourg and two next year in London and Aarhus.
Look out for updates on our involvement with this initiative on this blog and through our twitter account @UKWebArchive and @WARC_net.