Archived websites

The National Library collects, and preserves for long-term access, snapshots of websites that document and reflect Australian society and culture. The selective collection of websites and web documents curated by the Library and its partner organisations is publicly accessible and is known as the PANDORA Archive.

Since 1996, the Library in collaboration with state libraries and other heritage organisations has been selecting, collecting and archiving copies of Australian web sites and online publications through a program know as the PANDORA Archive. The objective of this program is to ensure long-term access to this important form of Australia's documentary heritage. In recognition of its significance the PANDORA Archive was placed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Australian Register in August 2004.

Content

Content ranges from single files, such as a text document in PDF, to large web sites, consisting of thousands of files in a variety of formats, including text, sound, image or video

In addition to government and academic publications, the Archive also includes sites representing cultural activity, Australia’s diverse peoples, community concerns, political activity such as election campaigns, sport, and many other topics.

Many titles are re-gathered on a regular basis to capture updated content and changes to the website that happen over time.

To the extent that resources and the technical constraints associated with capturing the content allow, the ‘look and feel’ appearance and functionality of the original website are maintained in the archived copy. However, site searching, forms and other interactive functionality associated with the original 'live' site is not able to be retained in the 'static' archived version. Sometimes certain content cannot be collected in the harvesting (copying) process, for example content delivered through background dynamic processes such as AJAX and content delivered through complex JavaScript which the harvest robot cannot interpret. This may leave evident gaps in the content, appearance and functionality of the archived version when compared with the original.

Access

Most content in the Archive is freely accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world, via the World Wide Web. A small amount of content may have access restrictions applied for commercial or legal reasons.

Content may be found by searching the 'Archived websites (1996 - now)' section of the Library's discover service Trove, searching the Library's online catalogue (adding 'PANDORA electronic collection' to your search query) or by browsing subject listings and titles on the PANDORA Website.