At some point in the life cycle of nearly every piece of content published, the material loses some of its relevance. Over time, the content will generally become less and less popular among current readers/viewers. Thus, the need for content archiving.

Valuable space in any public media outlet is generally reserved for the most timely and relevant material. Because the amount of content production is ever-increasing, and the needs of the audience are ever changing, there must be a system in place that assists in the “storing” of less popular content in “the back room”, so to speak.

An archiving system allows the Content Management Team to replace older, less relevant material, with newer information and publications. The archives make the older material accessible to potential viewers, without taking up important space, which may be needed for more current publications.

Depending on whether the content to be archived appears in a traditional media format (such as books, magazines or other periodicals) or a digital format (as in web-site material, e-books, digital photographs etc…) the archiving process will require different steps for completion.

Just as libraries and museums have specific sections for “archives”, a web-site or other internet portal will also need a specific place to store its outdated, but still relevant material. Many web-site applications now have a built system for the archiving of records.

The process of “Archiving” can be both tedious and time consuming, if older content is not relegated to the “archives” on a regular basis. Therefore it is vital to the overall operation of the content management team to systematically select those items which are to be archived, based on timeliness, popularity, and relevance to the viewer.