To Look Into the Abyss Unafraid: Being a tale of a newly hired Systems Librarian teaming up with a Library Director to purge the demons hiding in a very old web server

To Look Into the Abyss Unafraid: Being a tale of a newly hired Systems Librarian teaming up with a Library Director to purge the demons hiding in a very old web server

Hogan Suite A

Upon being hired in May 2022 as a Systems and Technology librarian presenter Iglesias had the unenviable task of taking over management of Salve University Library's web server. Although the Internet Archive lists its first snapshot of this url as being in 2000, there is evidence of an older, more chaotic past. From a Unix server of some sort to a Microsoft box that just had all of the files loaded on with no thought to directory structure leaving tantalizing clues everywhere from old directories to flash files now deprecated.

Obviously there was a need to get rid of the old stuff and keep the new stuff but how exactly to do that. A compromise was reached and the co-presenters spent many weeks going one file at a time to determine what could be safely deleted and what might still be in use. From subject guides that had become libguides to maps that could no longer be displayed to announcements of events 10 years in the past there was much work to do.

This presentation will present a synopsis of the efforts undertaken as well as some hints for others who may be in a similar position. Best tools will be covered but also best techniques for communicating with affected stakeholders in order to achieve progress.