Name:     Networking History

Acronym:  nethistory

Area:     GENERAL

Description of Working Group:

Key materials related to the history of networking Ð which includes the Web and mobile data Ð are scattered in the hands of individuals and institutions who often don't know what to do with them, or whether they have historic value. Many materials are online but with no plans for longer-term preservation. At the same time, a few archiving institutions around the world actively preserve materials related to networking history, and more will do so in future. This working group will focus on matching networking-related historical materials with permanent institutions that may preserve them. The primary method will be to identify both archiving institutions and potential historic materials in different countries. 

Some critical materials include those generated by the IETF's own processes, and by its active members who are connected with key organizations and companies around the world. Thus the IETF is an ideal central point from which to make connections to a wide variety of historic materials and local archiving institutions. The group may also develop recommendations for real-time preservation of materials, as the IETF currently does with RFCs. 

Materials for consideration can be original materials of different kinds, as well as Web sites and other content about networking history. Examples include: 
* Images and videos
* Software
* Physical artifacts
* Personal and business papers
* Correspondence including email and letters
* Technical notes and project documentation
* Oral histories
* Data collections, including Web sites
* Various content to do with networking history

The primary deliverables for the working group will be:

1) Identification and creation of a directory for permanent archiving institutions that preserve such materials, around the world

2) Identification of historical materials in need of preservation, including sites about net history, around the world

3) Development of recommendations for real-time preservation, which includes procedures for filtering and preserving selected networking history materials on an ongoing basis (RFCs are an example).

Identification and cataloging need to be on-going. Therefore, it is anticipated that this effort will use a collaborative venue such as a moderated wiki, rather than producing a static RFC

Real-time preservation entails ongoing capture of new materials into appropriate permanent archives.

Topics not in this Charter

Certain topics are purposefully reserved for later discussion, i.e. only after progress on the initial goals is well underway. These topics are open-ended and/or are being considered elsewhere, and some may fall outside the useful scope of the working group. They include:
* Unique challenges of  preserving networked software and data
* Creation of tools for collaborative recording of history (i.e. wiki timelines, etc.)
* How to preserve digital documents, including transfers to future types of media
* Which specific materials to preserve (individual archiving institutions will make those decisions)
* How to digitally link materials held in different archives, i.e. federated archive ideas, including issues around permanent URLs
* Online access to archives
* Authentication of digital documents

Goals and Milestones:

Start + 3months:  Initial draft identifying institutions that permanently preserve net history materials around the world

Start + 4months:  Initial draft identifying potential materials for preservation

Start + 5months:  Initial draft of recommended procedures for real-time 
preservation.