Appendices

Conclusions and recommendations

Please note that the following are text only versions of the email and survey that was sent out through the platform SurveyMonkey.

Appendix 1: Email sent to survey population

Dear member of university staff,

This survey is about the role of archived websites as a resource for academic research.

The National Library of New Zealand collects NZ websites and blogs. They are archived and made accessible for research use now and in the future, long after the original website has gone or been changed.

The New Zealand Web Archive is very strong in areas of the humanities and social sciences.

This brief survey seeks to understand:

  • The awareness of archived websites and blogs as a resource for the humanities and social sciences
  • How and why archived websites and blogs are used or not used as part of research and teaching in the humanities and social sciences
  • What is wanted from a NZ web archive service

Please assist the National Library of New Zealand by completing the survey below.

To complete the survey please click here: www.surveymonkey.com

The survey should take 5-10 minutes to complete.

The last date for receiving responses will be 16/01/2015. Completion of the survey is voluntary and you can withdraw at any time.

Submitting this survey will constitute formal consent to participate in this study.

Confidentiality

This study is being conducted according to VUW’s Human Ethics Committee guidelines and has received their approval. Your confidentiality will be kept at all times. All opinions and data will be reported in an aggregated form, so that individuals will not be identified.

Please use the contact details below if you would like further information or clarification about this research.

Contact details

Supervisors

Mark Crookston
Digital Collection Strategy Leader
Alexander Turnbull Library
National Library of New Zealand
mark.crookston@dia.govt.nz

Dr Gillian Oliver
Senior Lecturer
School of Information management
Victoria University of Wellington
gillian.oliver@vuw.ac.nz

Researcher

Harriet Riley
Summer Research Scholar
National Library of New Zealand
harriet.riley@dia.govt.nz

Thank you in advance for contributing to this research on New Zealand’s Web Archive.

More information about the National Library’s Web Archive can be found here: natlib.govt.nz/collections

If you do not wish to receive further emails from us, please click here and you will be automatically removed from our mailing list.

Appendix 2: Questionnaire

Introduction page

Survey: Use of archived websites for research

This survey is about the role of archived websites as a resource for academic research. The National Library of New Zealand collects NZ websites and blogs. They are archived and made accessible for research use now and in the future, long after the original website has gone or been changed.

The New Zealand Web Archive is very strong in areas of the humanities and social sciences.

This brief survey seeks to understand:

  • The awareness of archived websites and blogs as a resource for the humanities and social sciences.
  • How and why archived websites and blogs are used or not used as part of research and teaching in the humanities and social sciences.
  • What is wanted from a NZ web archive service.

Definitions of terms

Archived website: A copy of a website or blog that is preserved and made accessible in an archive. Most websites selected by NLNZ are collected regularly to capture new content. For example, NLNZ has taken a copy of the website Pacifica Inc every year since 2008 and these copies are available here.

Domain harvest: A regular harvest of the publicly available web content from the New Zealand .nz, .net, .org, and .com domains. The 2013 domain harvest collected 150 million urls and consists of 14TB of data.

NLNZ: National Library of New Zealand.

Thank you in advance for contributing to this research on New Zealand’s Web Collection.

Harriet Riley
Summer Research Scholar
National Library of New Zealand
harriet.riley@dia.govt.nz

Demographics

These questions allow us to explore any trends from the rest of the survey across disciplines and career positions.

  1. In which discipline do you work?
  • Architecture
  • Art history
  • Classics
  • Communication
  • Economics
  • Education
  • Environmental Studies
  • Geography
  • History
  • Information Studies
  • Language and Linguistics
  • Literature
  • Māori and Pacific Studies (including Te Reo)
  • Media Studies
  • Music
  • Philosophy
  • Political Science and International Relations
  • Religious Studies
  • Sociology
  • Visual Arts
  • Other (please specify)
  1. Do you consider yourself to be early, mid, or late career?
  • Early career
  • Mid career
  • Late career

Awareness of archived websites

A significant amount of published output and documentation of how society communicates, is on the Internet.
Furthermore, research suggests the average age of a website is around 100 days, meaning they are vulnerable to loss soon after they are created. In response, the international library and archive sector collects websites. NLNZ has collected websites since 1999.

  1. Did you know that there are international initiatives to archive copies of websites and blogs to support research?

Yes / No

  1. Did you know that copies of New Zealand websites and blogs are archived by NLNZ and made accessible to support research?

Yes / No

Using archived websites for research

Archived websites are increasingly being used in scholarly research. In 2013 the National Library noticed the three highest access items for our entire collections were archived websites. The purpose of this section is to learn about the use and sources of archived websites in New Zealand.

  1. Have you used the NLNZ website or catalogue to find archived websites?

Yes / No

  1. How often do you use the following sources of archived websites as part of your research?

(Often / sometimes / rarely / never)

Searching and accessing archived websites

Websites selectively archived by NLNZ can be searched in the catalogue by keyword, title, subject or name. The archived website is viewed in a browser via a link in the catalogue record.

For example, Elections New Zealand's website. Click on see this item online to see old versions of the site going back to 1999.

  1. To what extent do you agree with the following statements on how to find content in archived websites?

(Strongly agree / agree / disagree / strongly disagree / don't know)

  • I would prefer to find archived websites as part of my search for any items in the NLNZ collections (current approach)
  • I would prefer to be given archived websites as a data set that I could search using my own research tools (e.g. data mining)
  • I would prefer a full text search across all archived websites (e.g. like Papers Past)
  • I would prefer subject collections of archived websites to be available for my specific research or teaching area
  • I would prefer to go directly from a live website to archived versions of that site
  • For items collected by NLNZ, I would prefer to find them all together in a dedicated NZ archived website collection
  • I would prefer to use a url search in the NLNZ catalogue to find archived websites
  1. Please tell us if there are any other services you would like the NLNZ to offer in regards to searching and accessing archived websites.

(Text entry field)

  1. If you were to access content in archived websites at NLNZ, to what extent do you agree with the following statements?

(Strongly agree / agree / disagree / strongly disagree / don't know)

  • I would prefer to find archived websites as part of my search for any items in the NLNZ collections (current approach)
  • I would prefer to be given archived websites as a data set that I could search using my own research tools (e.g. data mining)
  • I would prefer a full text search across all archived websites (e.g. like Papers Past)
  • I would prefer subject collections of archived websites to be available for my specific research or teaching area
  • I would prefer to go directly from a live website to archived versions of that site
  • For items collected by NLNZ, I would prefer to find them all together in a dedicated NZ archived website collection
  • I would prefer to use a url search in the NLNZ catalogue to find archived websites
  1. Please tell us if there are any other services you would like the NLNZ to offer in regards to searching and accessing archived websites

(Text entry field)

Using archived websites for teaching

The Library’s analytics tell us that there are several tertiary courses that use archived websites as a learning resource. The purpose of this section is to explore the relationship between teaching and the use of archived websites in New Zealand.

  1. Have you used archived websites or blogs as a resource in your teaching?

Yes / No

  1. How do you use archived websites or blogs in your teaching? (Tick all that apply.)
  • I provide a link to archived websites
  • I use screen shots of archived websites in my presentations
  • Archived websites are part of reading lists I provide to students
  • Other (please specify)
  1. Why have you used archived websites or blogs as a resource in your teaching? (Tick all that apply.)
  • Archived websites contain the only content I can find on a topic (content no longer available in print or online)
  • I want my students to use a wide range of resources
  • Archives websites reflect how society engages and communicates online, at a particular point in time
  • Archived websites reflect the design sensibility of society and culture, at a particular point in time

Please explain in your own words why you have used archived websites or blogs as a resource in your teaching.

(Text entry field)

  1. What are some of the barriers or frustrations to using archived websites in your teaching? (Tick all that apply.)
  • I am not aware of archived websites as a resource
  • It is difficult to provide a link to the archived websites
  • I do not know how to find archived websites
  • Archived websites relevant to my course are difficult or time consuming to find
  • I am unsure of the credibility or authority of archived websites as a resource
  • I am unsure about copyright and what I can do with archived websites
  • Other (please specify)

Content of the New Zealand Web Collection

NLNZ collects websites and blogs in a wide range of subject areas but the collection is especially strong in key areas. The purpose of this section is to seek feedback on the Library’s priorities and identify any gaps.

  1. How important are the existing NZ Web Collection subject priorities to you in your research?

(Very important / somewhat important / somewhat unimportant / not important)

  • Government (e.g. official websites or government agencies)
  • Politics (e.g. political parties and blogs and websites from across the political spectrum)
  • Music (e.g. bands, musicians)
  • Sport and leisure
  • Māori (e.g. iwi, Treaty of Waitangi, language)
  • History
  • Environment (e.g. climate change, conservation)
  • Literature
  • Community groups (e.g. clubs, societies, advocacy groups, migrant groups)
  • Art and design
  • Events (e.g. Canterbury earthquakes, elections)
  1. Please tell us if there are any other subject areas you would like to ensure are represented in the web history of New Zealand, and why they are important to you in your current or future research.

(Text entry field)

The importance of social media

A significant number of social, political, and cultural interactions take place on social media. The purpose of this section is to determine a demand from the academic community for archiving publicly available social media.

Please note, the Library HAS NO INTENTION to collect private data or private messages communicated via social media, without the owner's permission.

  1. Would archives of social media be a useful resource for your current or future research?

Yes / No / Don't know

Please explain why or why not.

(Text entry field)

  1. How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

(Strongly agree / agree / disagree / strongly disagree)

  • Archived, publicly available, personal identity channels (e.g. Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn) will be important to my current or future research
  • Archived, publicly available, microblogging channels (e.g. Twitter) will be important to my current or future research
  • Archived, publicly available, video channels (e.g. YouTube, Vimeo) will be important to my current or future research
  • Archived, publicly available, photo sharing channels (e.g. Instagram, Flickr) will be important to my current or future research
  • Archived, publicly available, audio channels (e.g. Bandcamp, Soundcloud) will be important to my current or future research
  • Archived, publicly available, discussion forums (e.g. 4chan, Reddit) will be important to my current or future research
  • Other, please specify.

Domain harvests

NLNZ regularly collects copies of the New Zealand internet from the .nz domain as part of the Whole of Domain web harvest programme. The Library has sets collected from 2008, 2010, 2013 and the 2014 set is being collected this summer. Each set contains at least 150 million pages, and the whole collection comprises over 30TB of data, approximately 1 billion files, and over 600 million URL captures.

  1. How would you prefer to access the domain harvest collections?

(Strongly agree / agree / disagree / strongly disagree / don't know)

  • I would prefer access through an online full text search
  • I would prefer to access the full datasets

The research value of archived websites

The purpose of this section is to determine whether archived websites, blogs, social media, domain harvests and other web content are a valuable research resource, now or in the future.

  1. Is it important for New Zealand websites and blogs to be archived?

Yes / No / Don't know

  1. Is the NLNZ collection of archived websites important for current, medium or long term future research in your discipline?

(Yes / no / don't know)

  • Current research (next 5 years)
  • Medium term research (5-15 years)
  • Long term research (15+ years)
  1. Could the NLNZ domain harvests be important for current, medium or long term future research in your field?

(Yes / no / don't know)

  • Current research (next 5 years)
  • Medium term research (5-15 years)
  • Long term research (15+ years)
  1. Do you have any comments to make as to why it is or is not important for New Zealand websites to be archived?

(Text entry field)

Final page

Thank you for taking this survey. The information will be used to support the National Library’s approach to collecting archived websites, as well as contributing to international discourse on the scholarly use of archived websites.

The results from this survey are anonymised. However, if you would like to be contacted at some stage in the future for focus groups on the NLNZ's collection of archived websites please email me at web.archive@dia.govt.nz with your name and position.

Please note that providing this information does not compromise the confidentiality and anonymity of the research. It is impossible to link an email sent to this address to a survey response.

  1. Do you have any final comments, feedback or ideas about the current or future use of archived websites?

(Text entry field)

< Conclusions and recommendations