The British Library is now to store web pages...

...in an expansion of its collections. Up until now, the British Library (along with the other UK 'national libraries') has had the right to store all print material published in the UK, but a new agreement means that they will now have the right to store all online material published in the UK. Most webpages are short-lived, be it through minor updates, radical alterations or even complete deletion, so this project to archive online content is a major development for researchers. More information can be found on the British Library website: 'Capturing the digital universe'. A story was also featured on the BBC News website: 'Libraries to store all UK web content'.

In reality, the British Library has already been storing websites for many years, and these can be searched or browsed at the UK Web Archive. It's a resource which you may find yourself wondering how you'd never heard of it before!