Once a project moves out of the “active creation” phases, the project team can strategize what the maintenance phase will entail. For projects that do not expect further active phases of development in the future, but do expect a recurring audience for the project, there are some options to create static versions of the sites that maintain the significant properties outlined in the Project Dossier but minimize the need for some maintenance efforts and resources.
Projects that select an option for static maintenance should still consider what eventual retirement and/or preservation look like and schedule future intervals to reconvene and discuss.
Static containers with Webrecorder
Description: Using Webrecorder, your team can capture a high-fidelity copy of your project website, which can then be added to similar projects on the DARTH Replay site. Webrecorder utilizes different web crawling technology than the Internet Archive, and this enables higher-fidelity captures of dynamic sites that include elements like embedded third-party media. The resulting web archiving file can be used to aid long-term preservation as well.
Characteristics of project candidates
- Finished with active creation phase/s and firmly entering the maintenance phase with no further active development phases planned
- “Static” projects that may have playback of media elements, but are not interactive and reliant on changing data or compute (such as integrating updated database information or responding to user queries with changing answers)
- Ability for all elements to be captured one time for a complete copy of the project
Socio-technical considerations
- Can have third-party embedded elements, as long as they are static (like a set playlist of songs from a streaming platform) and do not change
- Will require someone to do a thorough, manual crawl using Webrecorder, ensuring that all elements are completely captured
- Will need to estimate and plan for storage costs on the DARTH Replay site
- Webrecorder will create a WACZ file that could be transferred to Harvard Library stewardship (consult with HL Digital Preservation Services)
- Redirect URL to DARTH Replay copy
- Ensure project stakeholders understand that because ongoing maintenance activities are ceasing (such as software updates), re-implementing the project if there is interest in further phases of active creation would be difficult
Example
DARTH Replay is a collection of digital projects that use this option.
Ephemeral environments with scale-to-zero
Description: Containerizing interactive or high-compute projects, redirecting the URL and hosting them on a server where they do not run unless someone visits the project site. This option drastically minimizes the maintenance and active financial and environmental storage costs of more interactive, dynamic projects, like those that leverage machine learning.
Characteristics of project candidates
- Finished with active creation phase/s and firmly entering the maintenance phase with no further active development or data updates phases planned
- Small, intermittent users of the project
- Is not a “static” project in that it contains elements which require back-end computing to respond to user expectations and/or inputs
- Can be containerized (for example, if there is a database or code, they can be “baked in” to the container)
- Comfortable with future users experiencing lag time, since there can be a slow start-up time after disuse
Socio-technical considerations
- Compared to creating a copy of your project in Webrecorder, this option can be used for projects with more dynamic and interactive, compute-reliant components (for example, the Visualizing Russian project
- Technical components must be able to be “baked in,” which requires no further technical updates and oversight/accessibility of the project components that are included
- Scalability and cost is dependent on a commercial server, so the project team should discuss the ongoing cost implications and what kind of user engagement they expect
Example
- Note: As outlined above, users will likely experience a lag when launching this site