UNCW Web Archive

How can I find UNCW’s Web Archive?

• The UNCW Web Archive is linked from the library's Digital Collections and e-resources list. You may bookmark the site: https://archive-it.org/home/uncw

How does the UNCW Web Archive work? 

• The UNCW Web Archive is powered by Archive-It and the Internet Archive. Public websites are archived using proprietary crawling technology, and included in the WayBack Machine as well as UNCW's Web Archive. 

What websites does UNCW collect in the web archive?

• The archive aligns with the collection policies of the Center for Southeast North Carolina Archives and History at UNCW Randall Library. The center serves researchers of Southeast North Carolina government, society, history, and culture, among other areas in regional studies.

How often are websites crawled for addition to the web archive?

• It depends on the website. A resource may change frequently and require weekly crawls, while others may need to be crawled quarterly, once a semester, or less frequently. The entire UNCW website is crawled once a year minimally, and portions of the website are crawled more regularly.

Is social media captured in the web archive?

• The library is testing social media archiving, but this service is not designed primarily for social media. Contact the Center for Southeast North Carolina Archives & History if you have social media accounts for us to consider archiving.

How can I tell that I’m viewing an archived website?

• A banner appears at the top of each web page, notifying the user that this is a captured web page and not the live Web. The banner displays the time and date of the capture, as well as other information about Archive-It .

How do I cite an archived website?

• Follow your style guide's instructions for citing websites. Enter the entire URL in your citation, for example: "https://wayback.archive-it.org/18777/20230428162337/https://alumni.uncw.edu/"

Why are there non-working links in the Web Archive?

• If the link goes to a page that has not been captured, you will get an error message. Pages may not be captured if they are hosted by outside websites and are not in the scope of the crawled domain. For example, a page ending in uncw.edu would be crawled, but a social media feed or link to an outside website may not be included. In addition, Archive-It doesn't capture websites hidden behind log-in screens. Portions of websites may not be captured if unrelated to the Center for Southeast NC Archives and History's collecting policies. If you feel a page has not have been captured in error, please contact the Center.

How do I make recommendations for the UNCW Web Archive?

• Contact the Center for Southeast NC Archives and History to suggest websites for archiving.