You can share a group of seeds from one Archive-It account to a collection in another account using Seed Groups. This article explains how sharing works and how to set it up.
On this page:
Before you start: key concepts
Handling duplicate seeds across collections
Before You Start: Key Concepts
Seed Groups are the shared entity: Unlike seed sharing within the same account, seeds must be part of a Seed Group to be shared between accounts.
No data is moved or duplicated: When a Seed Group is shared, no data is physically transferred. A mapping is created between seeds, collections, and accounts to provide access.
Automatic updates:
New captures of seeds in a shared group will automatically appear in the target collection(s).
New seeds added to the group later will also appear in the target collection(s).
Privacy settings are respected: Shared seeds retain the visibility settings of their source collection.
Edit access stays with the source: Shared seeds, their metadata, and the Seed Group itself can only be edited via the source collection.
Public display may take time: It may take 15–20 minutes for shared seeds and captures to appear publicly on archive-it.org.
How to Share a Seed Group
The link between accounts is established through the Seed Group. Follow these steps:
1. Create or Open a Seed Group
In the source collection, go to the Seeds tab.
Find the Seed Group you want to share and click its name.
If you haven’t created a group yet, learn how to create and manage Seed Groups here.
2. Add Target Collection(s)
On the Seed Group page, scroll to the Collections list.
Click Add Collections.
-
You’ll see:
Collections in the same account.
Collections in other accounts configured for sharing (these will be labeled by account name).
Check the box next to each collection you want to share the group with, then click Add.
Once added, the seeds and their captures will appear in the selected target collection(s), following the rules and timing described above.
Handling Duplicate Seeds Across Collections
If the same seed URL is already being crawled in the target collection, but you want to share historic captures from a source collection:
Set the seed in the target collection (where new crawls will run) to private.
-
This allows the shared seed from the source collection to act as the public version, combining both historic and current captures in a single access point.
Limitations
Full text search
Shared captures are not currently full-text searchable.
Seed management
This feature does not support crawling, editing, or otherwise configuring seeds from within their target collections. You may however continue to perform all maintenance from seeds' source collections, accessible via the link in each seed's disclaimer message, and expect to see changes reflected ultimately in both public access points:
Comments
0 comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.