One reflection I have, now that processing of the YU Archives’ COVID collection is complete, is that the next time we take on the challenge of archiving a historical event while that event is still underway, perhaps I won’t also be racing against time to learn new skills in order to do it.
At the outset of the project, I knew of course how to save a digital image, document, or audio/video file from the web, where the large majority of materials in the collection came from. But Jewish institutions and individuals were not just creating these types of digital material for the pandemic; in many cases, they were constructing whole websites to present that material. Some of these websites allowed for complex or ingenious user interaction with the content, which couldn’t be reproduced by a set of standalone pdfs or mp4s. What if I wanted to preserve that very interactivity – especially since the sites would often be short-lived and likely to disappear? How could I archive an entire website?
Below is one such example:
The website https://virtualdreidel.com was created for Chanukah of 2020 as a way for family and friends to play the traditional game together online, since they could not gather for Chanukah parties in person. While on a zoom, phone call, or group text with each other, players take turns clicking to spin the dreidel and watch their piles of gelt update accordingly.
So I found myself in need of a crash course on web archiving. The goal of web archiving is to save a copy of a website that looks and behaves just like the website originally did online. You might be familiar with this via the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, which saves copies of websites repeatedly over time, then allows you to browse the historical versions of those websites. The public can also add to the version history, using the “save page now” form. It’s a tremendous resource, and we occasionally used it to aid in tracking down content for our COVID collection. However, I often found that a copy made by the Wayback Machine was missing an image, video, or other key component of the webpage. As a user, there is no way for you to directly adjust the archiving process to include those missing components. For the websites we archived, I wanted more control over our results.
I took an introduction to web archiving course, watched all the webinars I could find, and logged many hours in trial and error. What I discovered is that web archiving is technically challenging and sometimes even frustrating, in part due to the way website coding is constantly evolving, and archiving software is continually trying to catch up. Without a budget for our COVID project, the tools available to us did not include technical support services. But four years of practice later, I am far more confident when I set out to save a website that I can achieve the results I want.
The tool I use most is a free Google Chrome extension called Archiveweb.page. Typically, Archiveweb.page requires the user to actively click through every page, link, and embedded media on the website in order to include it in the saved copy. Although capturing content manually this way is necessarily more time-consuming than an automated process, it provides a greater degree of control not available in other free tools. It also requires less technical know-how, and is quite user-friendly to experiment and tinker with your results, if they didn’t yield what you were aiming for on your first try.
In the end, the web archives are a fraction of the over 30,000 items in the Archives’ COVID-19 and the Orthodox Jewish Community Collection, but also a kind of microcosm of them. Although websites for approximately 60 entities were captured in all, they represent a full 20 of the 30 series in the collection. The websites range from large to small, from sprawling to deep dives, from somber to charming.
Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh, like many Jewish day schools, moved their entire K-12 school online in the spring of 2020. On a vast remote learning platform https://sites.google.com/view/hillelacademyofpittsburgh, they offered live classes on zoom, learning materials, and enrichment activities. Students could also book one-on-one appointments for support and follow the high school G.O. blog.
The goal of website https://shofaronthecorner.com was to sign up volunteers to blow shofar outdoors, and to make it easy for the public to locate a nearby outdoor shofar blowing to attend. First launched by a Chabad emissary in Toronto for Rosh Hashanah 2020, the searchable registry was still in use for 2021 and grew to include multiple locations in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Australia.
Resources for training and infrastructure would be required to make the websites we captured viewable online, as those of the Wayback Machine and other subscription-based web archiving programs are. So, at least for now, patrons must come in person to explore our COVID web archives, as well as the full COVID-19 and the Orthodox Jewish Community Collection. Make an appointment by contacting us at archives@yu.edu and we’ll get you started!
Sara Saiger, Archives Associate
