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FAQs

The WBG Web Archives is a special collection of archived websites from the WBG External web open to the public and WBG internal audience. It contains archived websites that have been replaced due to design and/or technological changes, and/or websites that are no longer live and active. ​​

Archived websites are an important digital asset because they document legacy information and serve as a record of the Bank Group's business activities, storing knowledge gained and lessons learned. Web Archives preserves older generation of websites, the contents of which would otherwise be difficult to access, or even unavailable, for staff reference.

No. Web Archives is collection of selected websites that identified as having archival and research value and/or present a specific look and feel of the older generation of WBG websites. 

Selection of a website for capture into Web Archives collection depends on the technical feasibility of a website's capture, as well as an assessment of the content's archival value. When a website is being replaced, or is being redesigned or updated, Web Archives team evaluates its suitability for capture. The website will be archived if it is found to have archival value and is technically compatible for capture. ​

Due to websites' complex structures and the widespread use of dynamically generated content and links, the current best practice is to use a 'crawling' or 'mirroring' technique. We use an open-source software tool which is customized in-house to mirror a live website.

The websites in Web Archives collection may have limited functionality since they are archived versions of live websites. Some links may not work, and the content is no longer being updated. In contrast, the live Bank External Web is updated regularly with the latest information about the Bank’s work. ​​To differentiate live web content on the WBG External web from archived websites in Web Archives each archived website is displayed under the ARCHIVED WEBSITE banner.​

During their lifecycle many websites went through several redesigns and major updates. There may be versions of the same archived website captured at different times with different content throughout its lifecycle. ​

You can browse and search for an archived website only within Web Archives collection. You can also navigate through an archived website. However, search within an archived website will not work the way search does on live websites.  

No, at this time you can only search using keywords. ​

Most of the look and feel will mirror the original live website experience. However, due to technical constraints, archived websites do not provide as much functionality.​

When archiving a website, the crawler may have encountered a technical problem while trying to copy the files, or it could not find them at the specified location. Due to technical limitations, websites with more than seven pages of content such as documents, images cannot be captured. Additionally, non-technical impediments can prevent content display. ​

Due to technical limitations, websites with more than seven pages of content such as documents, images cannot be captured.

The page you are trying to view has not been archived. It was not considered to be a part of this website. However, it may still be available at original location. Follow the instructions on the page to choose from the options offered: you can return to the archived website you were browsing or see whether the “Not Archived” page is live. There may also be technical reasons why the page was not archived.​