How to Design Web Archives Research
The aim of this guide is to provide a starting point for using web archives as a source for social science research. This guide provides a primer for how to approach web archives research design by first outlining what web archives are and how they differ from other types of web data, as well as identifying key sources for web archives collections. Following this, we provide several high-level descriptions and examples of existing research to demonstrate how web archives offer methodological opportunities for studying different types of web phenomena. Next, we draw on the literature to highlight three key considerations for designing a project using web archives, including the ethical implications of using archived web data without the consent of content producers. The guide concludes by summarising the opportunities and challenges of using web archives and provides additional sources to consult.