Data sheet (Research project):
| MINERVA Web Archiving Project |
| Title of research project MINERVA Web Archiving Project |
| Location of research project Library of Congress |
| Participation method Mention |
| Theme 1- Conservation of media art |
Observer: Vanessa Sparks |
The practical concerns of web archiving and digital preservation were some of the main points discussed by Dianne Van Der Reyden, the Director, Preservation Directorate at the Library of Congress, in a lecture delivered March 3, 2008 at the LOC. Put into a media art context, many of the projects and efforts elaborated on by Ms. Van Der Reyden present fertile possibilities for the preservation of new media artworks, especially web based artworks. The one mentioned here in detail is The MINERVA Web Archiving Project, as it is readily available online. The MINERVA Web Archiving Project collects and archives primary source material on specific topics. For instance, the 2002 U.S. Election web archive provides access to hundreds of webpages (some of which are no longer active save in the MINERVA project) pertaining to the 2002 election. It is possible to browse the webpages through eight different access points, like Candidate or Public Opinion. There are currently four archives available online and five more in production. In a media art context, it is the practical aspects of the MINERVA project that really make it interesting. The means through which MINERVA successfully archives webpages is a valuable tool in determining the best means of doing so for web based artworks. Examining the metadata (MODS) and collection policy employed, for example, illuminate what the needs are for net art, both by what they include as well as what they exclude. For instance, the MODS metadata schema is more flexible than most other metadata, but it does not provide specific fields to address input from the artist. Other issues to consider are macro or micro capture of webpages, both of which might concern net art, in terms of the scale of preservation. Most importantly, preservation is the overriding focus of projects like MINERVA, and this is what makes them so potentially valuable to the preservation of new media artworks. |
Links: MINERVA [Online] (Page consulted on March 9, 2008) MINERVA metadata [Online] (Page consulted on March 9, 2008) MODS [Online] (Page consulted on March 9, 2008) Sustainability of digital formats [Online] (Page consulted on March 9, 2008) |
