It was a great pleasure last week, after several months, to be able to unveil Web Archives for Historians, a joint project with the excellent Ian Milligan of the University of Waterloo.

The premise is simple. We’re looking to crowd-source a bibliography of research and writing by historians who use or think about the making or use of web archives. Here’s what the site has to say:

“We want to know about works written by historians covering topics such as: (a) reflections on the need for web preservation, and its current state in different countries and globally as a whole; (b) how historians could, should or should not use web archives; (c) examples of actual uses of web archives as primary sources..”

Ian and I had been struck by just how few historians we knew of who were beginning to use web archives as primary sources, and how little there has been written on the topic. We aimed to provide a resource for historians who are getting interested in the topic, to publicise their work and find that of others.

It can include formal research articles or book chapters, but also substantial blog posts and conference papers, which we think reflects the diverse ways in which this type of work is likely to be communicated.

So: please do submit a title, or view the bibliography to date (which is shared on a Creative Commons basis). You can also sign up to express a general interest in the area. These details won’t be shared publicly, but you might just occasionally hear by email of interesting developments as and when we hear of them.

You can also find the project on Twitter @HistWebArchives