The Web Archive of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community of Michigan collection contains archived websites created by various LGBT groups and individuals of the State of Michigan. The websites have been archived by the Bentley Historical Library, using the California Digital Library Web Archiving Service crawler from 2010-2015 and the Archive-It web archiving service beginning in 2015. Access to all websites archived by the Bentley Historical Library is available at: https://archive-it.org/organizations/934.
Web Archives include websites of LGBT equal rights organizations, religious groups, support systems, and activists who call the state of Michigan home. The collection is strong in documenting the events, activities, opinions, and resources of the various members of the Michigan LGBT community.
The year that appears next to the website title in the contents list indicates the date that the website was first archived. Archived versions of the site from later dates may also be available.
Michigan's LGBT Community is among Bentley Historical Library's most important topical collections priorities. The topic's priority is based on the Bentley Library's mission as established by the University of Michigan Board of Regents to document "the state, its institutions, and its social, economic, and intellectual development," the historical collecting patterns of the library, and overall collection development priorities in all formats. The process of setting collecting priorities is described by Christine Weideman's "A New Map for Field Work: Impact of Collections Analysis on the Bentley Historical Library" (American Archivist, Winter 1991, Vol. 54 Issue 1, pp. 54-60.) and Judith E. Endelman's "Looking Backward to Plan for the Future: Collection Analysis for Manuscript Repositories." (American Archivist, Summer 1987, Vol. 50 Issue 3, pp. 340-355.)
In selecting web content for permanent preservation, the Bentley Historical Library seeks:
- Websites of organizations or individuals whose archives the Library is committed to preserve.
- Website that fill gaps in existing collections.
- Websites with unique content that documents the work and/or thought process of a person or organization.
- Websites that periodically incorporate new content or feature regular updates.
- Websites with content that is not likely to be duplicated in an individual or organization's paper records.
As of 2013, the Bentley Library will concentrate efforts on documenting Michigan's GLBT community with a focus on its political and civic activities, marriage equality, religion, and other aspects. In addition to these priorities, the MHC remains open to the consideration of material with great research potential in any area of Michigan's diverse history.
To learn more about the Bentley Historical Library's Web Archives visit http://bentley.umich.edu/dchome/index.php.
