Website archives to be fast-tracked
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/dec/27/libraries-internet
Move follows warnings from British Library and National Museum of
Scotland that historical record is being lost
New legal powers to allow the British Library to archive millions of
websites are to be fast-tracked by ministers
after the Guardian exposed long delays in introducing the measures.
The culture minister, Margaret Hodge, is pressing for the faster
introduction of powers to allow six major libraries
to copy every free website based in the UK as part of their efforts to
record Britain's cultural, scientific and political history.
The Guardian reported in October that senior executives at the British
Library and National Library of Scotland (NLS)
were dismayed at the government's failure to implement the powers in
the six years since they were established
by an act of parliament in 2003.
The libraries warned that they had now lost millions of pages
recording events such as the MPs' expenses
scandal, the release of the Lockerbie bomber and the Iraq war, and
would lose millions more, because
they were not legally empowered to "harvest" these sites.
The powers are very similar to copyright laws which require every
publisher in the UK to provide the libraries -
chiefly the British Library and the NLS, but also the National Library
of Wales, the Bodleian in Oxford, Cambridge
University library and Trinity College Dublin - with copies of every
printed book, magazine, journal and newspaper.
The internet is fast becoming the dominant form of publication in the
UK: about a third of all works currently
published are only in digital form and that number is increasing
dramatically. Ministers predict the UK will
host 15m websites by 2016 but under existing powers the British
Library would be able to archive only 1% of them.
Ministers originally decided to postpone all the new powers until
after the next general election, blaming their
advisory panel and internal hold-ups for the delay. The libraries
feared this would mean further lengthy delays
as the Tories, widely thought to be favourites to win the election,
have so far refused to announce any plans
to enact these powers.
In an attempt to head off criticism, Hodge has now launched a
consultation, due to end in March, which would
allow the libraries to copy and archive free sites using the .uk
domain name and all other UK-based sites.
There are more than 4m free websites active in the UK and proposed new
domain names such as .
sco for Scotland and .cym for Wales will also be included.
Hodge has conceded she is unlikely to get these powers in force before
the next election but officials from
the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: "We will make as
much progress as we can in the time available."
However, paid-for websites - which may soon include the Times, the Sun
and all other News International titles
under plans for paywalls outlined by Rupert Murdoch - will still be
closed off to the copyright libraries.
Hodge has again delayed introducing legal powers to harvest websites
which charge to access them, or have
restricted access, until after the election. She said there are still
legal and technical issues to resolve.
Martyn Wade, Scotland's national librarian said: "We welcome the
consultation and look forward to taking
part in it. We hope that it will lead to meaningful and rapid progress
being made towards implementation
of legislation which will enable us to collect the published knowledge
of Scotland in electronic form;
knowledge which is currently being lost."
Lynne Brindley, chief executive of the British Library, said: "By 2020
more material will be published in
digital format than in print; the British Library must collect,
preserve and provide access to that material.
I very much welcome this consultation which extends the principle of
legal deposit to cover material published digitally and online."
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June Samaras
KALAMOS BOOKS
(For Books about Greece)
2020 Old Station Rd
Streetsville,Ontario
Canada L5M 2V1
Tel : 905-542-1877
E-mail : kalamosbooks(a)gmail.com
www.kalamosbooks.com