Through the K12 web archiving program (external link), a collaboration between the Library of Congress and the Internet Archive (external link), students -- children and teenagers -- archive websites that represent their lives and interests. They not only develop critical-thinking skills and learn how to solve problems with others, they also develop an awareness of the transitory nature of web content.
The students use Archive-It (external link), a web-based web archiving service from the Internet Archive, to capture sites and manage, describe and browse their collections. The Library of Congress archives the sites the students collect, and those collections become primary sources of information for future researchers. The students' experience of creating primary sources leads them to consider the authenticity and value of other primary sources.
In the spring of 2010, a team from the Library of Congress visited one of the program's participating classes at the James Moran Middle School in Wallingford, Connecticut. Over two days Library staff interviewed the students and their teacher, Paul Bogush. The two videos below are derived from those interviews.
- K-12 Web Archiving: Preserving the Present
" Paul Bogush talks about the project from the point of view of a seasoned educator. - America’s Young Archivists
The students describe their experiences with the project.
