Web archiving: systematization of reasons and justifications for archiving websites

Abstract:

The objective of this study is to present reasons for archiving websites through use cases of web archives and web archiving. It is characterized as exploratory research that adopts the bibliographic and documentary method based on a literature review on the subject. Content analysis was applied to the review of current national and international scientific productions in Information Science, as well as official websites, policies, and guidelines of web archives around the world. It was concluded that there are broader motivations for institutions to develop web archives, including, among such motivations, the urgency of preserving web content, due to the risk of losing this content, thus safeguarding the digital heritage produced by nations and the countless cases of use of web archives. In addition, however, the issue of legislation is effectively recognized, which can oblige and encourage these initiatives, granting the right and protection of these contents to institutions, delegating the functions of capturing, sheltering, and archiving web materials, whether in the role of a legal depository, aiming to: preserve social memory; or, for regulatory compliance and support in legal proceedings. Understanding the insights provided by web archives justifies, to a certain extent, future financial, political, scientific, etc. investments in digital preservation and web archiving, especially in countries that do not have a national web archive, as in this case from Brazil.

Keywords:
web archiving; digital preservation; websites; justifications; Information Science