K.G. Schneider

From Social Software Showcase

Social Software and Digital Preservation

 

1. What do we keep? Suggestion: keep everything. Storage is cheap, selection is expensive, and who knows what the future will find important.

2. What is "everything"? It's more than just static files or snapshots. Preserving social software may benefit from recording people interacting with the software--by video, camera, keystrokes, note-taking, etc.--so that in the future people have a feeling for how we used, say, the Lost Language of Twitter.

3. Think about the licenses and agreements we sign with social software networks. Even on networks that make a point of stating that you, the creator, own your own content, all of them state that the license could change, that they make no warranty to the content, and that the content could go away. Are we taking steps to archive this data? Are providers willing to work with us to allow us to harvest and preserve their data?

4. If you are generating any local social software data, consider establishing a LOCKSS network with other libraries. Watch the video to find out more about LOCKSS (starring Karen the Librarian and Emma the Cat, with a walk-on by Mr. Egg).

 

and go to the LOCKSS website to find out how you can participate in the future of this important software.