Sprint methods for web archive research

Abstract

Web archives provide access to snapshots of the Web of the past, and could be valuable for research purposes. However, access to these archives is often limited, both in terms of data availability, and interfaces to this data. This paper explores new methods to overcome these limitations. It presents "sprint-methods" for performing research using an archived collection of the Dutch news aggregator Website Nu.nl, and for developing and adapting a search system and interface to this data. The work aims to contribute to research in the humanities and social sciences, in particular New Media research employing digital methods to study the Web of the past. Secondly, this work aims to contribute to Computer Science, in the development of novel access tools for Web archives, that facilitate research