Web Archive Switzerland

The Swiss National Library (NL) has set for itself the objective to establish a collection of websites of patrimonial importance and by doing so will be able to build a long-term repository to preserve and guarantee future access to this significant source of Swiss culture. This collection called Web Archive Switzerland is selective in its approach and can by no means aim for exhaustiveness. The websites are stored in the long-term digital archive of the NL.

The Web Archive Switzerland collection is being built up in partnership with the Swiss cantonal libraries and other interested institutions. The identification of websites and their preliminary indexing is carried out by the partner institutions. The NL is responsible for collecting the selected websites, listing them in Helveticat, archiving them and making them available.

Submission form

The website submission form is intended for partner institutions wishing to register websites with the NL for the Web Archive Switzerland collection.

Background document, information sheets, glossary and instructions

The background document describes the origin, the process, the content and the objectives as well as the steps taken to build the Web Archive Switzerland. The information sheets “Sammeln”, “Erschliessen”, “Archivieren”, and “Bereitstellen” contain the guidelines, recommendations and information concerning the single domains. 

Webarchiv Schweiz: Grundlagen, 01.11.2025 (in German) (PDF, 374 kB, 03.11.2025)The background document describes the origin, the process, the content and the objectives as well as the steps taken to build the Web Archive Switzerland.

Webarchiv Schweiz: Merkblatt Sammeln, Version 2.4, 23.07.2024 (in German) (PDF, 1 MB, 07.08.2024)The information sheet “Sammeln” contains the basis for the creation of a collection of important patrimonial websites and defines the areas of collection and selection criteria.

Webarchiv Schweiz: Merkblatt Erschliessen, Version 2.3, 23.07.2024 (in German) (PDF, 664 kB, 20.03.2025)The information sheet “Erschliessen” contains the necessary instructions to fill out the web form as well as information concerning format and rules.

Webarchiv Schweiz: Merkblatt "Archivieren"
The information sheet "Archivieren" is currently being revised due to a system change. 

Webarchiv Schweiz: Merkblatt "Bereitstellen"
The information sheet "Bereitstellen" is currently being revised due to a system change.

Webarchiv Schweiz: Glossar, Version 1.7, 19.04.2024 (in German) (PDF, 208 kB, 22.04.2024)The glossary contains the professional vocabulary as well as the abbreviations used in the information sheets of Web Archive Switzerland.

Webarchiv Schweiz: Anleitung zur Suche von Websites in Helveticat, September 2025 (in German) (PDF, 264 kB, 15.09.2025)The website search guide describes how you may search for websites in Helveticat using an extraction code, a URL, a Dewey number or by language.

Webarchiv Schweiz: Anleitung zu Dewey-Vergabe, Juli 2024 (in German) (PDF, 189 kB, 07.08.2024)The instructions help you to assign the correct Deweys when registering websites.

Interactive collage of websites: a deep dive into Web Archive Switzerland

Workshops

Information about importing data

After submitting the website using the online form and once the snapshot has been successfully archived, a bibliographic record will be generated in Helveticat. 

The following documents list the MARC21 fields that appear in the bibliographic records for websites in Helveticat
1. Content taken from the submission web form (first version)
2. Content added automatically (first version)
3. Content that has been adapted over time

More on this topic

FAQ on web archiving

Here you will find answers to questions about collecting, archiving and making websites available in the Web Archive Switzerland.

Last modification 15.12.2025

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