Resource preservation research

Resource preservation as a way to combat "link rot" is a desirable feature. For academic purposes it allows resources to be (more) permanent for research, citation, and referencing. For non-academic uses, it allows a resource to be available even if the original has been moved or removed.

Examples of services:

  • Perma.cc
  • Archive.org

Questions

  • users may not know who Perma.cc or Archive.org are and may not be comfortable using them.
  • there's an issue about ownership of content using these services. Ownership and agency is important to coops.
  • using perma.cc, IA etc. should be an option, not the default. This way the resource contributor can decide for themselves what is best.
  • what if service agreement with perma.cc ends? How do users control their duplicated content in that case?
  • how are revisions to original content maintained if perma.cc etc. are used? Will the user require to manually update copies, or is it automatic?

Copyright and Fair Use

Note: this is not legal advice.

Preservation or reproduction of copyrighted content is permissible under Fair Use (in the USA) for education and research purposes. In evaluating fair use, 4 factors are considered:

  • purpose of the copy
  • nature of the source
  • quantity reproduced
  • commercial impact

See definition of Fair Use at copyright.gov.

Perma.cc and Internet Archive rely the contributor to either have permission (copyright) to make a reproduction, or on the contributor following Fair Use to function. According to Internet Archive's Terms of Service:

"...you certify that your use of any part of the Archive's Collections will be limited to noninfringing or fair use under copyright law".

Perma.cc Copyright Policy uses on DMCA to ensure the rights of the copyright holder are upheld.

"Consistent with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, if you believe that your copyrighted materials have been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please send an email or written notice to our designated agent for notices of infringement ... "

Initial Iteration

  • Allow for input of multiple Perma.cc or Archive.org links for a resource.

Future Iterations

  • Ability to create Archive.org or Perma.cc links automatically from the provided resource link.
  • Expand the archiving options beyond Perma.cc, or Archive.org

Perma.cc Wordpress Integration

Amberlink Wordpress plugin supports IA and Perma.cc, but does not seem to be maintained anymore.

Perma.cc has a RESTful API and requires an account to generate an API key.

Other Methods of Preservation

Perma.cc has browser plugins for Chrome and Firefox, and a bookmarklet.

Internet Archive has browser plugins for Firefox, Safari, and apps for iOS and Android.