Risk Management
for Web Resources
Background
The rapid growth of the Web provides extensive new resources of interest
to research libraries. There are numerous Web sites and pages that are neither
owned nor controlled by libraries, but may provide essential enhancements
to existing resources or form the nucleus for new collections. Research
libraries will have a vested interest in ensuring the longevity of these
sources as elements of their collections.
Risk Management Model
Virtual Remote Control (VRC) is an ongoing research initiative aimed
at developing and adapting a risk management model
to digital preservation. The overall goal is to develop a framework and
to identify tools that can be used to monitor a spectrum Web-based resources
and identify potential risks of loss of information. These tools will enable
individuals and institutions facing the challenges of preserving digital
assets to manage access to Web resources over time and to prevent, mitigate,
and recover from such losses.
VRC includes—but does not presume—the capture of Web sites, because a monitoring organization may not have the means, authority, or desire to capture all or some iterations of a Web site. Although VRC is intended for institutions with an interest in protecting Web sites not within their direct control, our approach can also be used to promulgate good practice by Web site managers.
Web Tool Evaluation Process
Ideal monitoring mechanisms are characterized by being cost-effective, scalable,
and accommodating to sites being monitored. They should be automatic and
flexible for deployment in a range of contexts. In our pursuit of an ideal
toolkit, we have been investigating available Web tools (e.g., applications,
services, snippets of code) to see if they are adaptable for the VRC risk
management approach. After reviewing relevant literature, we identified
and classified categories of Web tools that
appeared to have utility for VRC. Through iterative processes, we developed
evaluative protocols appropriate to each category. Selected Web tools are
being procured and tested using control and simulated VRC applications.
In the Web Tool Inventory we are cataloging and reviewing
each Web tool evaluated.
Test Site
A special Web site, the VRC Test Site, was designed
and created for the purpose of providing a stable standard of comparison
for use in testing and experimentation. The site contains html pages, images,
multimedia files, scripts, deep directory structures, broken links and other
kinds of errors, restricted pages, and more—all typical phenomena
found on the Web—and provides a stable, known environment for testing
a variety of Web site analysis tools.
Test Results
Tools are currently undergoing evaluation against the VRC Test Site and
other sites—see the results page. As our
testing efforts evolve we will include a summary that encapsulates our exploration
of each category. We will examine the characteristics of potential small,
medium, and large-scale toolkits by envisioning scenarios for using the
toolkit to implement the VRC approach.
