GoKawiilBritish Library restores UK Web Archive after 2023 outage
The British Library says its UK Web Archive platform is back online following a 2023 disruption, though it remains a work in progress. Search access is currently limited to websites archived before December 2022, and full URLs must be entered to view archived pages, which are otherwise viewable mainly within Legal Deposit Library reading rooms.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The partial restoration suggests the Library is prioritising getting core search and viewing functions working again before restoring full collection currency, which could mean researchers face gaps in coverage of more recent web content for some time. Because most archived sites remain viewable only in reading rooms, the library's legal deposit obligations likely continue to limit remote public access.
- UK Web Archive platform restored after a 2023 disruption
- Only content archived before December 2022 is currently searchable
- Full URLs are required to search, and most archived sites are viewable only in Legal Deposit Library reading rooms
Source: bl.uk, 2026-11-03
Published there as: “British Library Legal deposit and web archiving”
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