The 8-Phase Protocol
1. Discovery
Detection of endangerment. Sources include shutdown notices, user exodus, or technical degradation.
2. Assessment
The "Go/No-Go" decision. Requires analyzing:
- Scope: Volume and complexity of data.
- Urgency: Time until extinction.
- Ethics: The Custodial Filter.
3. Mobilization
Assembling the team (Coordinator, Scraper, Validator) and the toolkit (wget, Selenium, rsync).
4. Capture
The excavation itself. Prioritizes Breadth First (grab IDs of everything) before Depth (grab full content), ensuring at least partial survival if time runs out.
5. Validation
Verifying integrity. Uses checksums and random sampling to ensure the capture isn't corrupted or empty.
6. Storage
The persistence layer. Follows the 3-2-1 rule (3 copies, 2 formats, 1 offsite). Includes uploading to institutional archives (Internet Archive) and distributed networks (IPFS/Torrent).
7. Access
Making it usable. Tiers include:
- Public: Open web search.
- Researcher-Only: Protected by application/IRB.
- Dark Archive: Sealed for ethical/legal reasons.
8. Documentation
The Field Report. Recording the methodology, decisions, and gaps for future historians.
Field Notes
The Clock is Always Ticking: Triage is rarely performed in calm conditions. It is crisis work. The workflow is a map for chaos, preventing panic-induced errors.