UK Government Web Archive
The National Archives' collection of preserved UK government websites
| UK Government Web Archive
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Government web archive[1] |
| Founded | 2003[1] |
| Services | Preservation of government websites and selected social media accounts[1] |
The UK Government Web Archive (UKGWA) is The National Archives' collection of preserved government websites and selected social media accounts. It retains dated captures showing how online information appeared at different points in time, including material removed when websites changed or closed.[1][2]
The National Archives began archiving government websites in 2003. Earlier captures, dating to 1996, were subsequently incorporated from the Internet Archive.[1]
Archived sources and citations
The archive preserves copies of publications and web pages rather than becoming their original author or publisher. Each capture records a version of a website at a particular time. An archived government department's statement should therefore be attributed to that department; UKGWA identifies where the preserved copy can be consulted.[1]
When citing a UKGWA copy on Powerbase, retain the original author, page title and publication date, and distinguish these from the archive capture date and the date of access.
Coverage and limitations
The National Archives states that most central-government websites are captured in full at least every six months. Not all online content can be harvested: material requiring a login or interactive filtering before downloading may be absent. A capture is consequently a historical record, not a guarantee that every element of a former website has survived.[2]