briefing paper
Considerations for the
Preservation of Blogs
Blogs, it seems, are everywhere these days, but what about the next day (and the next and the
next ...). Opinions vary on whether or not blogs merit preservation beyond the actions of a
blog’s respective authors. This briefing paper does not contribute to that dialogue. Rather, it
provides an overview of issues to be considered by organizations planning blog preservation
programs. Blogs are the product of a network of players, including blog authors, service
providers, and readers. Discussed here are some key attributes of blogs, and the characteristics
and behaviors of these players, which may impact preservation activities.
Introduction
Calls in the literature have advocated that blogs, as potentially valuable additions to the human record, are worthy
of stewardship and long-term preservation. Pandora is one example of an organization currently collecting blogs
as part of their preservation program (1). Blogs are a ubiquitous component of online life, having emerged in
recent years as a pervasive, interactive medium for communication and information dissemination. The extent of
the blogosphere, the diverse, heterogeneous aggregation of blog content, is immense (2-3). It is comprised of
networks of co-producers made up of blog authors, or bloggers, readers, and service providers (4), reflecting an
assortment of associated behavioural, technical, social and legal issues. This briefing paper provides a summary of
the key attributes and characteristics of blogs and bloggers which may impact preservation.
Blog Attributes
Blogs come in all shapes and sizes. While there is considerable diversity in blogs’ composition, subject, intent,
layout and audience, there are some common hallmarks (1-3). Typically, the content of blog posts includes text,
images, audio and video, and posts are displayed in reverse chronological order. Content may be original to the
blog or the work of others, and may be imported, embedded, or made available through external links. Most blogs
are interactive, allowing readers to leave comments, add tags or perform other actions. This two-way
communication supports multiple interaction scenarios depending on the number of contributors, size of
audience, topical treatment, and availability. Blogs are dynamic and changeable, updated or added to iteratively.
This usually happens on a regular basis, though may also be intermittent, depending on the habits of individual
bloggers. Blogs are commonly characterized as ephemeral, though the lifespan of blogs varies, from instances that
are active – added to, modified, and maintained – for mere days or weeks to persistent instances that have
remained active for a number of years.
Blogger Behaviours
Just as blogs are diverse, so are the publishing behaviours of bloggers (1-3). Bloggers publish through a wide
selection of blog service providers and host sites. Blogs may be singularly or collaboratively authored. Bloggers
self-identify. As such, they may choose to blog under their real names or use a pseudonym. While most blogs are
characterized as open, bloggers may limit access to all or parts of their blog. Bloggers may choose among several
techniques for composition, including a blog’s internal editor feature, or methods external to the blog, such as
word processing programs, email composers, or desk-top plug-ins. Bloggers may easily update, modify and alter
their blogs, both in terms of the look, or layout of the blog, but also in terms of content. Blogs, including posts and
comments, may be intentionally edited or deleted. Such activity supports the notion of the ephemeral nature of
blogs, not only in the publishing of new content, but in altering or loss of previously published content. Further,
unintentional or accidental deletions or loss may occur. In a well-publicized example, the Google Blog was
“accidentally deleted,” and then recovered once the error was detected (4).
briefing paper Preservation Considerations
These general blogger and blog characteristics lead to several
considerations if a blog is to be “preserved.” Caplan summarizes the goals
of digital preservation as: availability, identity, understandability, fixity,
authenticity, viability, and renderability (5). An exhaustive treatment of
issues that arise when considering blog preservation in relation to these
goals is outside the scope of this briefing paper. Provided here is a sample
of only a few issues in relation to the first three goals:
• Availability: Any preservation action requires the simple step of
duplication. Permission to duplicate blog content requires negotiating
Further information and resources:
among the rights of multiple co-producers: the blogger, or bloggers in cases
(1) Pandora, [Link] of collaboratively-authored blogs; contributing commentators; blog service
providers, and other content producers, as in the case of embedded and
(2) Technorati. “State of the Blogosphere/2008.”
[Link]
imported content.
blogosphere/ • Identity: A number of factors impede the ability to adequately describe
the blog. For example, the use of aliases complicates determinations of
(3) Amanda Lenhart and Susannah Fox, Bloggers: A authorship, as well as establishing other controls, such as permissions and
Portrait of the Internet’s New Storytellers. Pew Internet
credibility and authentication. While the use of descriptive tags is a
and American Life Project (July 19, 2006).
[Link]
common feature of most blogs, the quality and accuracy of such
Report%20July%2019%[Link] identifying information varies widely.
• Understandability: Is preservation of content, regardless of context,
(4) Vivian Serfaty, The Mirror and the Veil: An sufficient? The inability to capture and preserve the design and features of
Overview of American Online Diaries and Blogs.
the blog contradicts defining attributes of a blog, including interactivity
Amsterdam and New-York: Rodopi, 2005.
and periodic, chronological publishing. Most bloggers make use of service
(5) The Official Google Blog. “And We’re Back” (March providers, and as such, their blogs are subject to the providers’ terms of
27, 2006). service, and dependent on the continuation of such services for the
[Link] publication and availability of their blogs
[Link]
(6) Priscilla Caplan, “The Preservation of Digital In addition, the diversity of blogs and differing perceptions of quality and
Materials,” Library Technology Reports 44, no. 2 value leads to questions of appraisal and selection. Blogs are not created
(February/March 2008): pp. 1-9. equal. There are differences in audience, readership, domain, credibility,
[Link] and authority. Should all blogs be preserved? This question is very
[Link]?article=2614
different from “can all blogs be preserved.” For the latter, no. There are
(7) E.g., BlogBackupOnline, simply too many mitigating factors for this to be achieved, including the
[Link] shear volume of active and inactive blogs, issues of ownership and
BlogBackupr, [Link] Archive-It, copyright, and issues of access and availability. In this light, the former
[Link] question may be rephrased, “which blogs should be preserved.”
Obviously, an individual blogger may select to take actions to preserve, in
the most basic sense, their respective blog. Tools are being made available
online to facilitate personal blog preservation (6). For organizations
administering blog preservation programs, clear parameters for selection
are essential.
Conclusion
The considerations presented here illustrate the range of issues that impact
the preservability of blogs, and the critical decisions that are required
before preservation programs are implemented. Such decisions will be
enhanced through an informed understanding of the characteristics and
behaviors of a program’s targeted community of blog co-producers,
including bloggers, service providers, and readers.
Carolyn Hank, Laura Sheble and Songphan Choemprayong, School of Information
and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
hcarolyn@[Link]
