Annotating Web Archives —structure, provenance, and context
through archival cataloguing
Paul WU Horng-Jyh, PhD
Nanyang Technological University
hjwu@ntu.edu.sg

Agenda• Background: Motivation & Objectives• Web Archives of Singapore (WAS)• Understanding Web archives• An example of Singapore’s eGovernment• Archival Cataloguing (Arizona Model)• WAWI Web Annotation System• Review of Previous Work• Cataloging, Annotation & Semantic Web• Concluding Remarks
Paul Wu NDL 19/02/2010

Web Archives of Singapore (WAS) –A joint project between NLB and NTU• Objective:• Capturing web as a record of Singapore’s national identity• Pilot targeting 1,200 Singapore (.sg) websites• Theme-based: Singapore Heritage• Websites produced by government ministries, departments and theiragencies as well as academic, educational, commercial, community andsocial organizations are to be included• Websites with content reflecting Singapore’s culture, history, politics,economics and social conditions• Topical websites documenting current events eg. Asian tsunami andSingapore election 2006
• Websites of conference proceedings, newsletters and online publications
that have ceased print coverage• Excluded: Blogs, CAMS, Discussion lists, chat rooms, bulletin boards,
news groups, Product listings, Illegal and inappropriate websites,
compilations of information from other sources• URL: http://was.nlb.gov.sg/

R&D Motivation• Initiate first Singapore national web archives• Preserve snapshots of Singapore’s Web heritage• Preserve evidence for cataloging decision based on
web context – web annotation• Facilitate collaborative and community based
cataloging process• Increase access to web archives content –beyond index and full text search• Organizing web archives for research and analysis

An Example: Ministry of Manpower(MOM) Web Archives• Nicoll Highway Collapse Incident• A high profile work site accident in Singapore:• Occurred in 2004 involving major• government agencies and• multinational corporations• Further delayed already delayed engineering work

• Help trigger legislating of a new Law:
• Workplace Safety and Health Bill

Web Sites Then – 2004,
and 2006

MOM circa 2004 from Web Archives
MOM circa 2006

Web Sites Then – 2008,
and now 2010

MOM circa 2008 from Web Archives
MOM circa 2010 from Current WebsitePaul Wu NDL 2010 19/02/2010

Content Comparison:
Before and After• Content stabilized between 2008 and 2010
• Content that is in common between 2004 and2006:• Minister’s Speeches• Press Release• Content that was available 2004, but not 2006:• Committee of Inquiries (COI) reports• FAQ• Content that is 2006, but not 2004:• Workplace Safety and Health Bills

Accessing Live Web Sites v.s. WebArchives• A Web site is a single version• Reflecting the current concern of the content provider• A Web archives contains many versions of the same
web site• Reflecting the evolution of a Web site
• Bringing to bear what was in the past with the current• Better understanding the present based on the past

• Need information architecture beyond current index &full text search• Semantic Web with Ontology-aware annotation

WAWI Annotation and Cataloging Integrated with IIPC platform

IIPC stands for International Internet Preservation Consortium
WAWI stands for Web Annotation for Web IntelligenceKey Features in WAWI
• Context-aware annotation• Ontology-aware annotation• Implemented through the following:• Relate web content to semantic content in the metadata• “Recordlizing” Web content based on “semantic content”• Provide flexible and precise annotation of the evidence• Render agreement, disagreement and different granularities of evidence• Detecting change for• Relate metadata to ontology• Capture Structural, Provenancial Relations

Understanding MOM• The mission of Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is to achieve a
globally competitive workforce and great workplace, for acohesive society and a secure economic future for all
Singaporeans.
• Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), a division of MOM,
promotes OSH at the national level. It works with employers,
employees and all other stakeholders• to identify, assess, and manage workplace safety and health risks so as toeliminate death, injury and ill-health.

• OSH Inspectorate, a department within the OSH Divisionfocusing on the reduction of safety and health hazards• It does so by providing advice and guidance through• inspections of workplaces,• investigating accidents and• enforcing the relevant laws.

Understanding MOM (cont’d)• The corporate communicatoin ensure the activities of MOM
divisions are reported timely•••••

Minister speechCommunittee of Inquiry Reports
Press releases
Hearing of reports
FAQ regarding how public and participate• The process• The public hearing announcments• Other quesitons the public may have

MOM Organization Chart - AnOntology

Corporate Communication
OSH Division

“Annotatable” from Government
Directory Website

URL: http://www.sgdi.gov.sg/

OSH Division

Existing Annotation Models• Context-less• Additional information is added without reference of
the web content• E.g. WebArchivist.org’s drill search• Context-aware• Information is added with web content - in a mannerof like the literary warrant in library science• E.g. Annotea in Semantic Web community

WAWI Annotator- Limitation of Annotea• Precision is based on X-Path, “text node,” rather
than “text position,” is the smallest reference unit
• Annotation is a single marker, boundary/extent
is not indicated• WAWI Annotator• Page coordinate as reference (per character unit)• Annotation Graph (AG) representation of annotation

Annotating (and Monitoring) MOM
Ontology• The highlighted
text is captured as
evidence of theontology• So, if there is achange on the left
panel, an alert will
be sent saying theontology may
need to bemodified

Annotation as evidence

The Context – A highlighted text ina Web Page

The MOM Ontology

Annotating OSH Records withMetadata• Records of• Minister Speech,• Press Release,• FAQ

can be annotatedwith evidence andmetadata

Speech File of OSH

Press Release File of OSH

FAQ File of OSH

Content Comparison:
Before and After• Content stabilized between 2008 and 2010
• Content that is in common between 2004 and2006:• Minister’s Speeches• Press Release• Content that was available 2004, but not 2006:• Committee of Inquiries (COI) reports• FAQ• Content that is 2006, but not 2004:• Workplace Safety and Health Bills

Annotating Relational Metadata• The OSH/FAQ
metadata can beannotated, as aninstance, of theFAQ in the MOM
ontology metadata• The relational
metadata isrepresented using
ref field andmetadata id.

Annotation as instance

FAQ of the MOM ontology
metadata on the left panel

OSH/FAQ metadataon the right panel

Key Features in WAWI
• Context-aware annotation• Ontology-aware annotation• Implemented through the following:• Relate semantic content in the metadata to the web content• Render agreement, disagreement and different granularities ofevidence• Provide flexible and precise annotation of the evidence• Relate ontology to metadata in a relational metadata

Concluding Remarks• Completed Web Archives of Singapore (WAS), jointlywith National Library Board• WAWI platform under development• Context-aware annotation [Allow Recordlization and ChangeDetection]• Ontology-aware annotation [Allow Structural andProvenancial Organization]• Embarking in Internet Research on• eLearning Recordskeeping System• Policy making and communication in eGovernment• eSocial Science in generalThank Youcontact: hjwu@ntu.edu.sg