Introduction. The emergence of the World Wide Web has been described as everything from the most significant information dissemination device since the invention of movable type printing to a reflection of the malaise of modern society’s fixation with trivial information and mindless diversions. Writings pour from both the print presses as well as appearing online from all perspectives, making it both difficult to keep up with such reflections as well as complicated to discern just what is really happening with the Web (for a description of the diversity of these viewpoints, see Cox 1998c). In the Web we can see opportunity and challenge, chaos and order. Records professionals have perceived a little of both, it appears, but they have only begun to mine the possibilities or confronted the challenges represented by the World Wide Web. Since the Web is a relatively new phenomenon, records professionals should not be unduly concerned that they have not worked out all the various meanings of the Web for their work and mission.

The Web represents, of course, both the good and bad of modern society because of its purpose. Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the Web, captures the paradoxes of this distinctive information purveyor when he describes its origins: “The dream behind the Web is of a common information space in which we communicate by sharing information. Its universality is essential: the fact that a hypertext link can point to anything, be it personal, local or global, be it draft or highly polished. There was a second part of the dream, too, dependent on the Web being so generally used that it became a realistic mirror (or in fact the primary embodiment) of the ways in which we work and play and socialize. That was that once the state of our interactions was on line, we could then use computers to help us analyze it, make sense of what we are doing, where we individually fit in, and how we can better work together” (Berners-Lee, 1998). The Web’s mirroring of our work and play is what makes it such a tempting target for social commentators and pundits. The Web’s design to capture and support our work and play is also what necessitates the records professional’s careful consideration of its use. Such considerations encompass both how they can utilize the Web for their own professional objectives and what they must do to contend with how the creators of records (organizations and individuals) are using the Web to produce documentation. Both represent substantial challenges that archivists and records managers must develop solutions and approaches for resolving and managing the Web’s implications and potential.

Archivists and records managers alike have written about the World Wide Web and its impact on their work as records professionals. We have had discussions of the limitations of utilizing the Web for records purposes, development of new standards for using the Web for providing access to records, and even studies about whether Web sites provide a new form of record needing to be managed. Most writings have focused on the practical dimensions of constructing useful Web sites and how the Web works (Davidson and McRostie; Landis; and Wallace). As in the general discourses about the World Wide Web and modern society, the writings by archivists and records managers range from the highly positive to the most cynical. Indeed, even the same person might contribute thoughts on the Web running the complete emotional and philosophical gamut, depending on what they are considering. This is true for me, certainly, as I have criticized how archivists have approached the use of the Web for providing access to their records (Cox, 1998a) and speculated on the implications of the Web for the evolving nature of the record (Cox, 1998b). Now, in this technical report, I am writing about how archivists and records managers need to use the World Wide Web for very practical purposes, describing both what has been going on and what needs to be done. No matter what we might think about the World Wide Web, it will continue to have an impact on our society, its institutions, and our work.

This report intends to comment on the entire range of actual and possible uses of the World Wide Web by records professionals. Here I am focusing on the potential of the Web for archivists and records managers, while recognizing that the Web presents such fundamental challenges for records professionals that these professions, along with the record, may be completely transformed in ways we cannot predict. Again, Web inventor Berners-Lee has discerned the basic promises and pitfalls facing us: “One thing is certain. The Web will have a profound effect on the markets and the cultures around the world: intelligent agents will either stabilize or destabilize markets; the demise of distance will either homogenize or polarize cultures; the ability to access the Web will be either a great divider or a great equalizer; the path will either lead to jealousy and hatred or peace and understanding. The technology we are creating may influence some of these choices, but mostly it will leave them to us. It may expose the questions in a starker form than before and force us to state clearly where we stand” (Berners-Lee, 1997). I hope that this report helps records professionals to ask new questions and consider new approaches regarding the practical possibilities of the World Wide Web.

This technical report is divided into two parts. The first part provides information about how the World Wide Web is being or could be used for various professional purposes by archivists and records managers. This portion of the report considers Web resources for records professionals’ such as clearinghouses, manuals, research studies, reference materials, standards, conference proceedings, and teaching aides. Critical commentary is provided about each of these resources, building off of my previous two part technical report on readings in archives (Cox, 2000b). Indeed, in that previous report many of the publications are indicated as being available on the Web. This present report discusses such resources and others with their potential for aiding the work of archivists and records managers. The second part of this current technical report discusses actions that records professionals need to consider taking in order to mine the potential of the Web to support their work as well as contending with the implications of the Web for records and other documentary sources in general. Some of these actions concern the need to rethink how records professionals are presently using the Web, such as in how their Web sites are designed or the need for some additional types of online resources to support the labors of archivists and records managers. Other actions relate to new concerns such as training a new generation of records professionals to use the Web and to conduct research and develop solutions for the Web’s implications for records generation and maintenance. The possibilities for such new work are unlimited and quite important for archivists and records managers to become engaged with them.

A final note needs to be stated about the Web resources and uses described in this technical report. The World Wide Web is a large and unruly place. It is growing and changing quickly, and with this growth comes both new additions and losses of older sites. The Web is a highly idiosyncratic place, depending on the personal interests and whims of individuals as well as the changing fortunes and objectives of professional associations, scholarly groups, citizens’ groups, institutions, and government. As a result of this volatility, the Web sites described in this technical report must be considered to be representative of the uses and resources of the Web for records professionals. There may be better examples of Web sites, or at the least there may be other equally useful Web sites. For this reason, I invite individuals who know of other examples of such Web sites to contact me, and I will add them to an electronic version of this report located – with the permission of Greenwood Press – at my personal Web site. I will also include descriptions of such sites in my future columns in the Records & Information Management Report.