Consider uploading council documents from CAPE to archive.org

We have seen a number of council climate documents in CAPE become 404s, as the councils move/delete the original files from their webservers.

CAPE keeps a copy of these removed documents, but doesn’t always display them.

We can’t guarantee CAPE will always be around, and it’d be a shame for future researchers/activists to lose these historical documents, given we already have them in our hands!

Archive.org feels like the natural home for these removed documents. But if we want to proactively upload documents before they’re removed, then we’ll need to consider whether we’re in contravention of archive.org’s guidance on only preserving materials in imminent danger of permanent loss, before we continue:

I want to preserve materials I’m afraid might be permanently lost

While we strive to preserve materials that are at risk of being lost we do not want to mirror items that are online without actual evidence that their removal is imminent.

To that end we ask that if you believe online materials are at risk and you wish to preserve them if they are removed please keep a copy locally on your own drives. If the items are removed or deleted from the site you are then welcome to upload them. Please include evidence that they were online but have been removed.

Additionally, if you are concerned about materials status we’d suggest discussing mirroring it with the owner of the materials and request that the owner talk with us.

Uploading them prior to that may result in their removal from archive.org and your account being locked.

Start with the issue description and the linked archive.org guidance on preserving materials in imminent danger of loss. Determine whether CAPE should upload only removed documents or also proactively preserve them, and document the evidence and ownership requirements. Done means there is an agreed, policy-compliant approach; no files or tests are identified in the issue.