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eFestivals is in the British Library's list of 100 websites

we're essential reading for future generations!

By Scott Williams | Published:

eFestivals has been chosen as one of 100 Websites which this country's libraries judge will be essential reading for future generations researching our life and times in 2013.

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That's right eFestivals has been chosen by the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, the National Library of Wales, Bodleian Libraries, Cambridge University Library and Trinity College Dublin, as one of the top 100 websites that's essential reading and should be archived for future generations.

They say of us, "eFestivals provides a listing of all UK festivals ranging from the small to the large-scale since 2000, showing how our taste for live music events has changed over time."

The list is to mark new regulations allowing these institutions to archive the digital content across entire UK web (that end in .uk, or that are created or published in the UK), along with e-journals, e-books and other formats, so that researchers in the future can use this resource in 100, 200 or 1000 years time.

The British Library aims to preserve the entire UK web domain to document current events and record the country's online cultural and intellectual works. Billions of web pages, blogs and e-books will now be amassed along with the books, magazines and newspapers which have been stored for several centuries. The capturing will start tomorrow and is expected to take three months. It will then take another two months to process the data.

The 2003 Legal Deposit Library Act paved the way for the information to be stored but copy right laws forced the library to seek permission each time it wanted to collect web content now new regulations allow Libraries to copy every UK electronic publication.

The British Library, which has invested £3 million in the project during the past two years, plans to collect the material by conducting an 'annual trawl' of the .uk web domains. It will also reap information from another 200 sites - such as online newspapers or journals, including we guess this one - on a more regular basis.

Access to the material, including archived websites, will be offered in reading rooms at each of the legal deposit libraries.

Roly Keating, chief executive of the British Library, said: "Ten years ago, there was a very real danger of a black hole opening up and swallowing our digital heritage, with millions of web pages, e-publications and other non-print items falling through the cracks of a system that was devised primarily to capture ink and paper.

"The regulations now coming into force make digital legal deposit a reality, and ensure that the Legal Deposit Libraries themselves are able to evolve - collecting, preserving and providing long-term access to the profusion of cultural and intellectual content appearing online or in other digital formats."

We're extremely proud to have been selected. To see the list (click here).