Report on the Scholarly Use of Web Archives
Purpose: For many years, web archiving communities have dedicated much of their time and effort to developing the necessary archiving technology and procedures. With the better
establishment of archiving infrastructure, their focus has now increasingly turned towards
enhancing web archive use and usability. In support of these efforts, this paper’s aim is to provide an empirical perspective of how researchers currently engage with web archives, their needs in connection to this source, as well as to identify some of the reasons for their non-use.

Methodology: Data was collected using a mixed method approach, which consisted of an online survey in two Danish universities, and a series of semi-structured interviews.

Findings: Findings suggest that currently there is limited awareness in the humanities and social sciences research communities of the possibilities of using web archives as a scholarly source. At the same time, the results describe researchers’ various use methods, some of the challenges they are facing when using the archives, as well as their suggestions for potential improvements.

Research limitations: Limitations address sample size and sampling method. Further research is necessary in order to obtain more robust and representative results.

Originality/value: This study aims to contribute to the presently limited research on the use of web archives in general, and their scholarly use in particular.

Keywords: web archives, scholarly use, digital heritage, digital humanities
Paper type: Research paper