Business archives and Web 2.0: increasing archival access and making the archives and asset

This thesis explores the ways business archives can use Web 2.0 applications for both internal and external archival processes. As corporate archives create websites and in some cases blogs and other Web 2.0 applications (Facebook and Flickr pages), they have the opportunity to increase access to their holdings, but they also risk becoming a potential liability to the corporation through privacy and copyright lawsuits, as well as accidental divulgence of company secrets or publication of materials that are then used to create a bad image of the corporation. This thesis questions whether business archives can utilize Web 2.0 applications to increase access to their holdings, reconcile archival and corporate values and add value to their parent company. Anecdotal evidence suggests that business archivists are not as actively involved with Web 2.0 technologies as their counterparts in non-business archive. To test this observation I surveyed business archivists, questioning them on the extent to which they use Web 2.0 tools in their archival practice, their opinions on the utility of Web 2.0 and the degree of openness their corporation's policies allow. I also analyzed current business archives' websites and Web 2.0 applications to explore ways that these tools can increase archival access and outreach. In an effort to encourage business archivists to implement Web 2.0 technologies, the final section distills my research into a Web 2.0 user guide for business archivists.