UK Web Archiving Consortium

The UK Web Archiving Consortium (UKWAC) is a consortium of six leading UK institutions working collaboratively on a pilot operation archiving selected UK websites. UKWAC consists of the British Library, the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), the National Archives (UK), the National Library of Wales, the National Library of Scotland, and the Wellcome Library.

Using PANDAS software, developed by the National Library of Australia, consortium members archive sites (once appropriate permissions have been obtained from website owners) relevant to their interests. For example, the Wellcome Library will focus on collecting medical sites, whilst the National Library of Wales will collect sites that reflect life in contemporary Wales. The British Library will focus on sites of cultural, historical and political importance.

Once sites have been archived, catalogued and checked for completeness, they are made freely accessible through this website. Users are able to browse the archive - using broad subject headings - or search for specific sites and topics.

As at August 2007 the archive contains about 2,500 titles and about 10,000 instances (6-monthly snapshots of each web site for which permission to archive was granted).

UKWAC is currently using the Pandora Archive software developed by the National Library of Australia, but plans to move in 2008 to open-source software tools that utilise standards accepted by the International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC).

External links

• UK Web Archiving Consortium official website
• International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC) - International consortium whose mission is to acquire, preserve, and make accessible knowledge and information from the Internet for future generations