Einar Thorsen

Professor of Journalism and Communication at Bournemouth University

Publications | Conferences | Teaching | Projects

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5 Things the Library of Congress is Archiving Online

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Sarah Kessler:

So what does the Library of Congress think is worth saving? Here are the portions of today’s web your grandchildren will be able to access through the Library of Congress:

1. Twitter feeds—all of them […]

2. National Election Candidates’ Internet Presences […]

3. Facebook Pages—A Selective Few […]

4. Notable Historical Events […]

5. News Sites That Give Permission

Unlike libraries in some other countries, the Library of Congress has no legal mandate to preserve the web. Therefore, the web archive team can’t collect everything they would like to without asking permission. Because news sites and blogs earn money on their content, the Library needs to get consent before it includes their pages in the archives.

Grotke says that few news organizations that the web archive team contacts for permission ever respond, which means that not much of the content in the web archives comes from news sites.

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BBC – dot.Rory: So was it an internet election?

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    Rory Cellan-Jones:

    "Just about every debate I attended on this issue before the campaign ended with everyone agreeing that television, and the debates in particular, would be decisive.

    But the internet, from social media to Google to good old-fashioned news websites, did play a significant part in the way many people experienced this election – and that was very different from what happened in 2005.

    The web was successful in getting more people to engage with the campaign, it played a role in the way parties sought to persuade voters into their camp and to organise that process. It was also a source of news – although this was one area where its effect was smaller than expected."

    External link

    Del.ici.us tags: rorycellanjones electino2010 internet campaign onlinenews

How important is the internet to the election? – The Guardian

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    How important is the internet to the election? – The Guardian

    "Matthew McGregor, London director of Blue State Digital, which masterminded Obama's election campaign, said:

    "The mistake is to try and impose political messages from the top down, whereas the internet – and those successful Obama campaigns –worked from the bottom up.

    "It's not just a productionist model where parties control the debate and people obediently do things," he added.

    "The internet provides engagement and amplification of what were previously quite small ripples in that pool.""

    Courtesy of Jemima Kiss.

    Del.ici.us tags: election2010 internet campaign

#debill v #ge2010 – BBC: dot.Rory

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    #debill v #ge2010 – BBC: dot.Rory

    "In 24 hours, the hashtag #debill appeared 14,400 times on Twitter, as compared to 1,470 tweets using the election hashtag #ge2010. So, does that mean the mainstream media, with its concentration on campaign news, is ignoring the really big story? Or is this a particularly well-focussed campaign by a relatively small group of activists?"

    Del.ici.us tags: bbc debill ge2010 twitter campaign news hashtag rorycellanjones

The Straight Choice | The election leaflet project

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    The Straight Choice | The election leaflet project

    Live Election Leaflet Monitoring Project:

    "Election leaflets are one of the main weapons in the fight for votes in the UK.

    They are targeted, effective and sometimes very bitter. We need your help to photograph and map them so we can keep an eye on what the parties are up to, and try to keep them honest."

    Excellent resource for researching political campaigning, but also valuable historic record of campaign material.

    Del.ici.us tags: election2010 campaign leaflet history archive