Personal digital archiving: an analysis of URLs in the .edu domain
| Published date | 20 March 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-11-2016-0120 |
| Date | 20 March 2017 |
| Pages | 40-52 |
| Author | Heather Moulaison Sandy,Edward M. Corrado,Brandi B. Ivester |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information user studies,Metadata,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
Personal digital archiving:
an analysis of URLs in
the .edu domain
Heather Moulaison Sandy
School of Information Science and Learning Technologies, University of Missouri,
Columbia, Missouri, USA
Edward M. Corrado
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA, and
Brandi B. Ivester
School of Information Science and Learning Technologies, University of Missouri,
Columbia, Missouri, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to consider personal digital archiving (PDA) from an academic
perspective. Although elements of research data management and personal information management are
relevant, it is unclear what is available on university websites supporting PDA. The following question
guided the research: where is “PDA”content housed in the top-level .edu domain and what is the format and
nature of the content made available?
Design/methodology/approach –This descriptive study analyzed Google hits yielded by searching
“PDA”within the .edu domain. Results were analyzed to determine where content was housed and its format
and nature. Placement in the domain, delivery methods, topics, and the nature of the most highly ranking
Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) were analyzed.
Findings –In the academy, PDA is not exclusively of interest in libraries; not quite half of the .edu URLs
(45 percent) pointed to a library site. Scholarly papers were the most returned content, followed by blogs and
conferences information. Closer analysis of the top 20 URLs showed that libraries are popular and papers,
and blogs continue to be dominant.
Research limitations/implications –The results suggest good PDA practices and recommendations are
evolving. Academic librarians should examine these practices, refine them, and make them available and
discoverable on the web.
Originality/value –This is the first paper, to the knowledge, to consider PDA content from the perspective
of universities and university libraries.
Keywords Academic libraries, Universities, Research data management, Personal information management,
Websites, Personaldigital archiving
Paper type Research paper
Digital platforms and software packages supporting the creation and use of digital content
have become a part of daily life for people around the world; despite the current ubiquity of
digital content, the problem of organizing and accessing that content into the future has
emerged as a very real challenge for individuals (Redwine, 2015) and for information
professionals alike. For electronic content created by individuals, personal digital archiving
(PDA) represents an overarching approach to ensuring future use of valuable digital files.
Yet, the work that researchers and others at the academy undertake is not confined to
digital versions of analog memos and lab notebooks. With the rise of social media, faculty
and students alike are creating and posting text based and multimedia content online,
are supporting or carrying out their research through the creation of digital content, and are
Library Hi Tech
Vol. 35 No. 1, 2017
pp. 40-52
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/LHT-11-2016-0120
Received 1 November 2016
Accepted 26 November 2016
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
Work on this paper was supported in part by a Carnegie-Whitney grant from the American Library
Association.
40
LHT
35,1
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