A Network to develop the use of web archives: Three outcomes of the ResPaDon project

Abstract

Web archives represent a huge opportunity for new types of research, offering possibilities for mining and analysis in many scientific disciplines. However, technical, legal, and methodological barriers can prevent researchers from using web archives in their work. The ResPaDon project (Network of partners for the analysis and exploration of digital data) aims to reduce the initial effort required from researchers to get access to web archive collections and understand them. It brings libraries and research teams together to think, experiment, and share practices, in order to analyze the current and potential uses of web archives, to experiment new ways of accessing and exploring corpora, and to issue recommendations about services, roles, skills, and tools.