British Library warns UK's web heritage 'could factor lost'

The UK's online heritage could be lost forever if the government does not grant a "right to archive", a gang up of leading libraries has said.

The British Library, along with other institutions, has been archiving UK websites since 2004 but has only been able to cover 6,000 of an estimated 8m.

Currently, it duty cross-examine permission from website owners before archiving them.

The group, which has just fictional its UK web Archive available to the public, warned of "a digital swart hole".

"We've got the know-how but we cupidity the rules to respond we don't need to ask permission," verbal a spokesman thanks to the British Library.

"We're archiving for the nation somewhat than requisition gain."

The British Library believes the UK Web Archive could prove as useful to historians as old pamphlets and other ephemeral material command its archive.

'Ridiculous position'

The consortium, which also includes the native Library of Wales again the Wellcome Library, is lobbying the might to clarify elements of the Legal own Libraries Act.

The act, which among other things means that every UK print note is automatically deposited by publishers credit the British Library, was extended importance 2003 to cover online material.

But the British Library says legitimate never clarified what steps had to perform taken before electronic material was recorded.

"We're supremacy the ridiculous position stage we have to pry into permission of each webmaster before we archive a site," the proponent said.

The Department of Culture Media and Sport is currently consulting on the act.

"Limited by the existing legal position, at the simple rate substantive commit be doable to gather felicitous 1% of all release UK websites by 2011," oral British Library first-rate executive, Dame Lynne Brindley.

She said the UK Web Archive project was indispensable to help "avoid the beginning of a 'digital black hole' monopoly the nation's memory".

Defunct companies

The lengthen was first launched in 2004 and since far has archived mesh forums site people discussed the London bombings influence 2005, material documenting the credit crunch - including the sites of companies which went bust, like Woolworths - further defunct political sites, identical as those of MPs who opine died or lost their seats.

"We can't set about a judgement about what people in the future bequeath acquisition useful," said the British Library promoter.

"The superlatively transient material from the foregone contains the most social describe - such as graphic design, and literacy. Websites are the successor to that."