What is a web archive?

A web archive is a collection of archived websites captured using a web crawler for preservation purposes. The transient quality of information on the internet means that documents and pages can easily disappear. By archiving websites in a systematic and permanent method, valuable information can be preserved for assessment, documentary, and historical purposes.

Archives function to collect, preserve, and make accessible records of enduring value to their institutions. Increasingly these records are produced and distributed to faculty, staff, students, and alumni in digital formats, with the university websites and social media playing a central role. Faced with this, the Special Collections Department of Velma K. Waters Library at East Texas A&M University began archiving the university’s web presence in 2012.

The Archives currently archives the following university-affiliated pages:

• The main university website
• Lion Athletics
• Selected Twitter feeds
• Selected Facebook pages
• Marketing Communications YouTube Channel
• KETR
• The East Texan

In addition to the East Texas A&M University web archive, a small collection of online newspapers from the Northeast Texas region is being captured.

How is the web archive accessed?

The East Texas A&M University Archives uses the subscription service Archive-It to collect, manage, and provide access to archived web pages.

East Texas A&M University's Web Archive

All archived websites are available to the public 24 hours after the crawl occurs. The websites will be fully indexed and full-text searchable within one week.