We’re excited to share an important new Veridian software feature designed to help safeguard digitised historical collections.

As more libraries, archives, and historical societies bring their digital collections online, the risk of automated “harvesting” has increased. These bots can rapidly download large volumes of PDFs, placing unnecessary strain on hosting systems and potentially breaching copyright, access agreements, or fair-use expectations.

Related reading: Bot Wars 4.0

To protect both system performance and the rights of content owners, Veridian has introduced a new feature that gently limits the number of PDF downloads that can be performed performed within a nominated timeframe.

What does this mean for regular users?

For almost all researchers, genealogists, students, and casual visitors—nothing will change.
Typical research activity involves browsing individual pages, saving a few PDFs, or reviewing items over time. These normal usage patterns should not trigger any restrictions.

What triggers the pdf download limit?

The download limit activates only when unusually high numbers of PDF downloads occur within a short period. While Veridian allows this feature to be enabled, the specific threshold—such as 25 downloads within a 24-hour window—is entirely customisable. Each client can decide whether to set a limit and define what that limit should be based on the needs of their collection.

If a limit is enabled and a user exceeds it, they will see a message explaining what has happened. In most cases, they simply need to wait for the reset period before downloading again.

We’ll work with you to monitor usage patterns and help refine any thresholds over time to ensure the limit strikes the right balance between open access and effective protection for your collection.

Why is this new feature important?

This new protection helps:

• Preserve server performance so your site remains fast and stable for all users
• Prevent mass extraction of full-text content and copyrighted material
• Support responsible access for community researchers and partner institutions
• Reduce operational costs linked to bandwidth spikes and system overloads

In short, it’s a practical way to balance open access with responsible stewardship of digital historic newspaper collections.

At Veridian, our mission is to make historical collections discoverable, usable, and sustainable for the long term. This update strengthens those goals by ensuring that valuable content is both accessible and protected

If you have any questions about the new download-protection feature, please contact us.