Archiving the internet as a task for libraries

Abstract

Documents and other information sources are deleted or moved in a large amount from the public internet, and this causes problems when they are cited in scientific publications and educational materials. Average internet users, too, are frequently meeting 404 error messages indicating web pages that have disappeared. The web is fundamentally a medium in present tense, however, at least part of it would be worth preserving and making available for research by future generations. The article seeks answer to the question who should save what, how, with what tools and why from the internet, and what is the relevant task and responsibility of libraries and librarians. It presents some useful tools and services, describes in short the international scene, as well as the pilot web archiving project started in the National Széchényi Library, Hungary in spring 2017.