Mobile Computing News

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The world renowned British Library, home to almost every book available in English, broadened their horizons and introduced Internet in 2004. Six years on, they’ve now launched an archive of the past few years, documenting the websites people search, and picking up on the main interests of the UK public.

Aim

The reason for starting the web archive was to build the British Library’s digital collection. Making sure the websites are available in the future, it also shows how different sites have changed over the years. The archive has been split into the most popular sub-categories, including: arts and humanities, business, economy and industry, education and research, government, law and politics, medicine and health, science and technology and society and culture. The results can help researchers lock down on the key interests of the British people.

The websites

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There are approximately 6,000 ‘vintage’ websites that the British Library has collected over the years. The library realised that many of these websites might disappear into a ‘black hole’, along with other sites that are not used as much as they once were. The Library has had to request permission from the site owners for every site in the archive. The British Library has the right to do so thanks to the Legal Deposit Libraries Act (2003), but needs further legal regulations for this act to become fully active and automatic.

A site can also be nominated by the public – one that isn’t in the archive yet. Websites are chosen every six months, depending on popularity. The archive also contains briefings, reports, policy statements and other documents known as ‘grey literature.’ The British Library is in partnership with the National Library of Wales, JISC, and the Wellcome Library, all helping to provide information, and make the archive bigger.

Who the archive is for

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Everyone can benefit from the archive. In some professions it`s critical to learn from the past using research, and historians, teachers and journalists will all find the archive useful. The archive will enable people to find the information they need with ease and accuracy.