Charles Beagrie Ltd and the Digital Preservation Coalition are delighted to announce the release of the DPC members’ preview of the latest Technology Watch Report ‘Web Archiving’. This is the fifth report in the DPC technology watch series to have been commissioned with Charles Beagrie Ltd as series editors.

‘The World Wide Web is a unique information resource of massive scale, explains Maureen Pennock the report’s author, ‘yet the lasting legacy of the web is at risk, threatened in part by the very speed at which it has become a success. Content is lost at an alarming rate, risking not just our digital cultural memory but also issues of organizational accountability.  In recognition of this threat, organizations have invested heavily in developing and implementing a range of web archiving solutions.’

‘This new report provides a state-of-the-art overview of the issues commonly faced and the technology in use.’

This report is aimed at anyone who wants to broaden their knowledge of web archiving before they embark on a web archiving initiative. It will appeal mainly to organizations or individuals who are relatively new to web archiving, though existing practitioners will also find value in the way it surveys the entire landscape.

Neil Beagrie of Charles Beagrie Ltd welcomed the report, ‘The web is critical to so many business functions whilst so few agencies have a specific plan to preserve content that supports these functions. This report will be a considerable help to any organization that thinks its web content is of lasting value, especially those engaged in web archiving initiatives.  Because it includes options for procuring third party services it make web archiving available to all without an existing preservation infrastructure.’

William Kilbride of the DPC commented, ‘This is the fifth Technology Watch Report we’ve released in the last two years.  Previous titles have been very popular, including such topics as Preserving Email, Preserving Digital Sound and Vision, Intellectual Property Rights for Preservation and Digital Forensics.  Maureen Pennock’s concise, authoritative and informative contribution makes the series an increasingly important reference collection for anyone interested in securing a lasting digital legacy.  I’m very grateful to Maureen for her work and I am certain that readers will be too.’

The DPC Technology Watch Reports identify, delineate, monitor and address topics that have a major bearing on ensuring our collected digital memory will be available tomorrow. They provide an advanced introduction in order to support those charged with ensuring a robust digital memory and they are of general interest to a wide and international audience with interests in computing, information management, collections management and technology. The reports are commissioned after consultation among DPC members about shared priorities and challenges; they are commissioned from experts; and they are thoroughly scrutinized by peers before being released. The authors are asked to provide reports that are informed, current, concise and balanced; that lower the barriers to participation in digital preservation; and that they are of wide utility. The reports are a distinctive and lasting contribution to the dissemination of good practice in digital preservation.

The report is available as a preview to DPC members at: http://www.dpconline.org/component/docman/doc_download/826-webarchivingpreviewmarch2013 (member login required)

If you’re not yet a member of the DPC you can get a preview by joining the DPC: http://www.dpconline.org/join-us

The report will be released to the general public in the second quarter of 2013.