6. > RECORDKEEPING STRATEGIES FOR STATIC WEBSITES

Organisations with static websites (with or without simple dynamic elements) should implement one of the following object-oriented strategies:

6.1. > CAPTURE INDIVIDUAL OBJECTS

Definition

Individual objects posted to a website are captured and maintained.

Technique

1. > Determine which recordkeeping metadata elements should be created for each object posted to the website. For example:
   • Author
   • Date and time of creation
   • Action officer for posting to website
   • Date and time of posting to website
   • Action officer for removal from website
   • Date and time of removal from website
   • Title
   • URL
2. > When the publication is removed from the website, capture a copy of each object and its recordkeeping metadata within a corporate recordkeeping system.
3. > Develop and implement a strategy to migrate file formats, regularly refresh or migrate media formats, and manage recordkeeping metadata.

Benefits

It is possible to render each object as it was when published on the website.

The complexity of maintaining the functionality and look-and-feel of a website is avoided.

Risks

Managing individual objects does not readily enable reconstruction of an entire website at a single point in time.

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6.2. > SNAPSHOTS

Definition

Copies of a website are taken at regular intervals (snapshots).

Technique

1. > Determine how frequently copies of the website should be created. This may be at predefined intervals (e.g. every month) or when significant updates are made.
2. > Determine which recordkeeping metadata elements should be created for each snapshot.
   For example:
   • Date and time of snapshot
   • Creator of snapshot
   • URL for website (www.organisation.govt.nz or www.organisation.govt.nz/subsite)
3. > Create the snapshot.
   A snapshot should include all aspects of the website to ensure that a fully functional website can be reconstructed. For example, the snapshot should also include any client-side scripts required to browse the website. Note that it may be necessary to make some modifications once the snapshot is created, such as disabling scripts and updating links.
4. > Capture the snapshot and its recordkeeping metadata within a corporate recordkeeping system.
5. > Develop and implement a strategy to migrate file formats, regularly refresh or migrate media formats, and manage recordkeeping metadata.

Benefits

Captures the content, look-and-feel, and functionality of a website at single points in time.

Risks

Copies of an entire website, including client-side scripts and other simple dynamic elements, must be maintained over time.

Organisations risk being unable to prove what information was made available on a website at a particular point in time, should it be required to do so. If a website is updated infrequently, then creating and maintaining a snapshot of each update may be appropriate. However, if updates are frequent, you should augment the snapshot strategy with change logs (See 6.3).

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6.3. > SNAPSHOTS AND CHANGE LOGS

Definition

Copies of a website taken at regular intervals (snapshots) are augmented with a record of changes to the website between snapshots (change log).

Technique

1. > Determine how frequently copies of the website should be created. This may be at predefined intervals (e.g. every month) or when significant updates are made.
2. > Determine the recordkeeping metadata elements that should be captured in the change log. For example:
   • Date and time of change
   • Action officer
   • Details of change
3. > Establish procedures and processes to ensure a new change log is created and updated between snapshots.
4. > Create and capture each snapshot and its recordkeeping metadata (see 6.2) within a corporate recordkeeping system.
5. > Capture each change log within a corporate recordkeeping system prior to the creation of each new snapshot and explicitly link it to the last snapshot.
6. > Develop and implement a strategy to migrate file formats, regularly refresh or migrate media formats, and manage recordkeeping metadata.

Benefits

Requires less storage space than taking snapshots of every change to a website.

Organisations can tell exactly what web pages and what content was available on a website at a particular point in time.

Risks

Copies of an entire website, including client-side scripts and other simple dynamic elements, must be maintained over time.