The Web turned 20 this year, and we all know how much impact it has had on how we find and use information every day. Libraries, archives and museums of all sizes have embraced the Web as a platform for sharing information about their collections, engaging with their users, and sometimes (when we are lucky) for sharing the collections themselves. As more and more information moves onto the Web, cultural heritage organizations are increasingly called upon to help preserve the Web itself. Beyond its sheer size, what are the preservation qualities of the Web as a medium? How does our experience of preserving and providing access to the Web inform how we build our own Web applications? What does it mean for libraries, archives and museums to be on the Web, while at the same time being of the Web. What can we learn from Web preservation activities that are going on outside the traditional context of cultural heritage organizations? What skills and expertise do libraries, archives and museums need to invest in to do this work? I plan to address some of these questions, and provide a hopeful look at the opportunities that the Web provides to memory organizations and the people that help build and use them.
Working abstract for my talk at National Digital Forum 2013.