UK libraries build digital archive.

• Position: ARCHIVES - Brief article

Six legal deposit libraries in the United Kingdom have begun building an archive of digital content. Regulations were passed in April that allow the libraries to collect and archive such digital content as websites, blogs, electronic journals, and other digital publications. Specifically, the legal deposit regulations give the six libraries the right to receive a copy of every UK electronic publication, "starting with freely accessible websites on the .uk domain, estimated at 4.8 million websites," reported FutureGov magazine.

The libraries will employ web-crawling software to store snapshots of 200-500 websites that have been identified as being important for research. These sites will be harvested on a monthly or weekly basis, while others will be captured once a year. Publishers will also be able to submit their material for deposit using a secure deposit portal. According to FutureGov, a pilot process has been developed to collect e-books in the ePub format.

The six deposit libraries include the British Library, the National Library...