The British Library has revealed approximately 6,000 internet pages which have been collated for a UK initiative called the UK Web Archive. The Library, which already collects every book and periodical published in the English language began to collect internet data in 2004, giving a unique historical view of how the web has grown, and has now launched their new catalogue for public viewing
Chief executive of the library Dame Lynne Brindley said “The Library has worked directly with copyright holders to capture and preserve over 6,000 carefully selected websites, helping to avoid the creation of a ‘digital black hole’ in the nation’s memory.” She added that copyright laws prevented them from recording almost 99per cent of the world’s online content, an issue that she hopes legislation may change.
Currently the library only holds a minute fraction of data, covering seven topics which include Economy & Industry, Arts & Humanities, Education & Research, Business, Government, Medicine & Health, Law & Politics, Society & Culture and Science & Technology. Collated of articles and pages of British interest, the data is searchable and allows readers to casually peruse the history, growth and waning on specific internet sites. Whilst information changes as the years commence, so do the page layouts, with an easy slider allowing for individuals to start from the beginnings of a website with its text heavy layout, moving through to the modern day presentation.
