Disclaimers

We encourage you to please read the following disclaimers.

Statement on Veracity of Preserved Information

The Web and Social Media Preservation Program acquires web resources, in their "as-published" state, for the purposes of posterity and future research. Preserved resources may contain links to additional resources outside the GCWA, which we do not warrant or endorse.

Collection of a web resource does not confer or reflect any implicit or explicit endorsement, guarantee of information accuracy, or agreement of the information contained in the preserved resources by LAC or the Government of Canada.

Technical limitations

Web archiving technologies are always improving, but some web content remains difficult to capture, preserve, or make accessible. It is difficult to capture content that relies on:

  • human interaction and interactive technologies
  • streaming media or data
  • databases or document filters
  • proprietary technology
  • dynamic elements

LAC collects the Web for posterity and for the purposes of building its own digital and library research collections.

Effort shall be undertaken to faithfully preserve the content and functionality of web resources targeted for inclusion in the Web and Social Media Preservation Program’s collections. LAC cannot offer any warranty, guarantee, or service level with respect to the preservation or functionality of selected web resources, nor is it possible to acquire and preserve all websites. Some variables impacting successful web resource preservation are beyond LAC’s control. Functionality that might not work includes:

  • internal and external links
  • forms
  • search boxes and interactive elements
  • databases
  • proprietary technologies
  • steamed or embedded legacy audio-video

Archived resource not available

Occasionally, the GCWA may display the message "resource not currently available." This may occur for three main reasons:

  • the resource was not available from its original source when LAC attempted to acquire it
  • we collected the resource and it has been preserved but it's not yet indexed for public access
  • the resource has closed access (rare). It's not available for access via the Internet to the general public.

Check back regularly. We make archived web resources available as soon as possible. If a web resource is not retrievable after trying for a few days, reach out to us.