iipc: project re dds: digital archeology (may 9, 2011)

Collection TreasuresProject: re:DDS, Digital Archeology

IIPC: "Out of the Box: Building and Using Web Archive Collections“

May, 9th 2011

Project re:DDS, Digital ArcheologyIn the wild, wild cyberspace… appeared -from

networkcables, computers and modems- a virtual city…

De Digitale Stad (The Digital City): 1994-2001 (public domain)• 1st (free) public domain virtual city in the world• 1st Dutch virtual community• Grounded by a fluid group: net-activists (hackers), independent media, artists and… the

municipality of Amsterdam, co-initiator Marleen Stikker (De Balie) was the 'virtual mayor‘ • Inspired by the Community Networks movement in the US and Canada (Free-Nets)• Attracted international interest for the design: metaphor of a city to structure cyberspace, users

were ‘inhabitants’• Good for the cyberreputation of the city of Amsterdam. CNN (1997):

• “For hundreds of years the city of Amsterdam has been a center of commercial trade, art and education. Now it’s helping point the way in the information revolution too.”

• Manuel Castells (The Internet Galaxy, 2001 ): • “The most famous citizen computer network. (…) A new form of public sphere combining local institutions, grassroots

organisations, and computer networks in the development of cultural expression and civic participation.”• Inhabitants: 1994: 10.000 - 1997: 60.000 - 1998: 80.000 – 2000: 140.000

Project re:DDS, Digital Archeology

Grave Diggers Party, Friday the 13th…• Working space (the ‘Archeological site re:DDS’)

– Servers– Tools (e-pades, e-pick-axe and e-trowels: SCSI, cables/convertors, hotplugs,

genderbenders, switches, scripts, ducktape and screwdrivers)– Workstations (PC’s):

• ‘E-excavators’: go digg in the Wayback Machine and store the excavations in the Historical (e-) Depot• Share your stories and memories at the Open History Lab re:DDS.nl (http://re-dds.nl)

• Museum space (Tourist Tours)– /Lost+found: ‘cabinet of curiosities’: hardware (servers, terminals, modems etc)– Billboard 1: What is DDS, Where are you, What is this site? – Billboard 2: Timeline– Billboard 3: Tools: excavators (=pc’s), buckets (storage), ziploc bags (usb sticks), shovels

(mouses, UNIX commando's), measuring tape (scripts) and pitfalls (system errors, error 404 this page cannot be found, broken images, linkrot etc)

– Billboards 4, 5, 6: screenshots of /Lost+Found

http://re-dds.nl/


First, we go back to the Dark Ages of Internet…


NL• 1970 - CWI (uk: Centre for Mathematics and IT) builds supercomputer SARA, Sciencepark in Amsterdam• 1986 - .nl = first ccTLD (country code Top Level Domains) in the world• 1986 - Registration first .nl-domain name: CWI: cwi.nl• 1988 - The Netherlands connected to the internet• 1988 - SURFnet, Co-operative University Computing Facilities• 1989 - NLnet, B2B• 1997 - Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX)

Amsterdam net-culture


/lost+found: interfaces of the virtual city


/lost+found: squares


/lost+found: projects


/lost+found: excavations


But, Pitfalls of Fragile Media:• Linkrot• Lost documents• Missing software (operating systems)• Missing hardware (SCSI cables, cards etc)


In other words, characteristic problems of the media:

• Technology - These media are based on magnetic (hard disks, magnetic tapes, floppy disks) or optical technologies (CDs, DVDs).

• Longevity - These media are extremely short lived: The stated longevity is a few decades at best.

• Durability - These media are volatile: The method of recording is either magnetism on a magnetic surface, or optical laser on a plastic back.

• Compatibility - These media become obsolete quickly. Even if they do not physically fail, the technology to read them will be obsolete in a decade or two.

[Source: http://baheyeldin.com/technology/digital-archeology.html]

http://baheyeldin.com/technology/digital-archeology.html


So, the goals of the project re:DDS:• To preserve the internet-historical monument DDS• A pilot for net-archeology: how to reconstruct, preserve and retrieve the

virtual city DDS (DDS is born-digital) and make it accessible to the public, on a scientific and social level

• To map the history of the DDS and e-culture in Amsterdam• To include the DDS in the collections of the heritage institutions of

Amsterdam.


Webarcheology:• (Besides the traditional research techniques: literature, archives and interviews)

• Digg for content in the Internet Archives and Groups.google.com• Collect, reboot and restore old servers• Unpack and activate freezes• Reconstruct the actual virtual city


Open History Lab: http://re-dds.nl


/lost+found


So, you’re invited to the kickoff of the ‘Information Research & Data Recovery Bootcamp’: the Grave Diggers Party, Friday the 13th of May!

TNX to our partners (till now): De Digitale Stad Holding BV, IISG, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Waag Society, old inhabitants, (ex) DDS employees, DDS affined webarcheologists and Karin Spaink

More information:http://re-dds.nl

iipc: project re dds: digital archeology (may 9, 2011)

Technology

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dds affinedwebarcheologists

digital archeology nl

digital archeology iipc

ex dds employees

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