It’s week 6 of Getting to Know the Law Bod and this week we are looking at both Electronic Legal Deposit and the UK Web Archive. A brief introduction can be found below but come and check out our display when you are next in the Library, it is just outside the Photocopying Room on the main level.
Electronic Legal Deposit
Legal Deposit, which has existed in English law since 1662, ensures that the published output of the UK and Ireland is collected, preserved and made available within the six Legal Deposit Libraries for present and future generations. Did you know that new regulations came into force on the 6 April 2013 to extend Legal Deposit to materials published electronically and on the internet? Print publications for legal deposit can be books, journals, sheet music, maps, plans, charts or tables. Electronic Legal Deposit also covers material published digitally such as e-books, e-journals, websites and blogs. Without the legislation the Legal Deposit Libraries would not be able to collect and give access to this important body of e only material. This is especially important as many academic publishers are publishing only in eformat.
The six Legal Deposit Libraries in the UK work together to archive and provide seamless access to electronic Legal Deposit material, with a growing collection of more than 5 million eBooks and eJournal articles. Material received electronically from publishers is saved in perpetuity by the Legal Deposit Libraries and due the legislation can only be accessed on library premises.
UK Web Archive
UK Web Archive is where researchers can access archived websites blogs etc. Researchers can use this site to discover old or obsolete versions of UK websites, search the text of the websites and browse websites curated on different topics and themes. You can also nominate a website to be archived even your own!
For comprehensive information on how to access and use electronic Legal Deposit at the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford please see our online guide Electronic Legal Deposit for Readers and Reading Room Staff.
