WARCSEC 2018 Annual Report

General information

1.Name of Section

Web Archiving Section

2. Council liaison

Bergis Jules

3. Report submitter information

• Name: Karl-Rainer Blumenthal
• Email: karlb@protonmail.com

4. Roster Updates: Please list all newly elected or appointed steering committee members. Include full name, position title, and term end date for each.

Emily Ward: Vice Chair/Chair-Elect (2018-19), Chair (2019-20) 

Projects and activities

SAA's sections are integral to SAA's work on behalf of our members and the profession. For many members, sections represent their primary experience with SAA. Please indicate all projects and activities that your section has completed this year, continues to work on, or plans to implement in the next year.

5. Completed

Standing Rules: The Steering Committee drafted and proposed changes to the Section’s Standing Rules to membership, who overwhelmingly passed them in a special referendum. These changes altered the roles and terms of Steering Committee members--combining the roles formerly split between web and social media communications into a single position, adding a full member position to be filled by a student, and extending the terms for the Education Coordinator and Secretary each from one tear to two in order to foster sustainability in longer term Section projects and activities. The adopted Standing Rules and revision history may be seen at: https://www2.archivists.org/groups/web-archiving-section/standing-rules  

Workshop: Steering Committee members created and hosted a live web archiving workshop geared towards beginners on May 30, 2018, at the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO). ~20 archivists attended and participated. All presentation materials, speaker notes, and guided workshop materials were made openly accessible and announced to the general SAA membership for their own use at: https://www2.archivists.org/groups/web-archiving-section/getting-started-with-web-archives-2018-beginners-workshop 

Publications: Steering Committee and general Section members contributed to numerous publications about web archiving policy and strategy throughout the year, most noticeably three by the OCLC Research Group’s Web Archiving Metadata Workshop Group: https://www.oclc.org/research/publications/2018/oclcresearch-descriptive-metadata.html 

6. Ongoing

Web Archiving Roundup: Social Media Manager Samantha Abrams revived the popular but dormant “Web Archiving Roundup” series and shared bi-weekly advisory for reading materials on the subject of web archiving through the Section’s email list, social media, and blog: https://webarchivingrt.wordpress.com/ 

DAS Course: Chair Karl-Rainer Blumenthal liaised with SAA’s Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) committee to explore adapting the beginners’ web archiving workshop above into a recurring and online DAS course. The topic was referred to in the incoming Chair and Education Coordinator to pursue further with the DAS committee in the 2018-19 term if the Steering Committee desires. 

7. New

SAA Strategic Plan

SAA's Strategic Plan is the guiding document for the association. Please review the current Strategic Plan and indicate below how your section has contributed to each of the 4 main goals.

8. Goal 1: Advocating for Archives and Archivists

The Section advocated for the vitality of archives by reaching out to non-archivists and allies in the information fields to program an annual meeting that would explore the roles and contributions of archivists to especially timely and complex social issues. 

9. Goal 2: Enhancing Professional Growth

The Section enhanced archivists’ access to professional and education resources by hosting a live, interactive workshop for beginners’ to the practice that may now be reused, updated, and adapted to archivists’ needs. 

10. Goal 3: Advancing the Field

Section members contributed to an expanding knowledge base that transcends traditional archival boundaries by playing key roles in the creation and dissemination of new descriptive practices for web archiving across GLAM institutions. 

11. Goal 4: Meeting Members' Needs

The Section Steering Committee responded to members’ needs for timely communication of web archiving news, practices, events, and discussions with the re-introduction of the Web Archiving Roundup and its adoption to platforms with diverse audiences of practitioners inside and outside of the Section and the archival profession.

SAA Annual Meeting

12. Number of Attendees

~75

13. Provide a summary of meeting activities and highlights. (No minutes, please, just notes.)

After reviewing the activities of the Section as described above, the Web Archiving Section’s annual meeting proceeded through a program of speakers, discussion, and guided activities on the topic of web archiving in rapid response to spontaneous events. Attendees hear from guest speakers representing the Sunlight Foundation’s Web Integrity Project, the Remembering 1 October Initiative, and Project STAND. Together with invited speakers the attendees then planned their own rapid response attitudes and strategies towards proposed scenarios in small break-out groups. Further discussion and Q&A helped attendees to develop solutions to practical rapid response problems that they face at their home institutions/communities.

14. Link to meeting minutes on the section's microsite (optional):

Questions for the Council

15. Does your section have questions or concerns for the SAA Council? Include notes on potential budget requests for Fiscal Year 2020 (July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020).