Getting past current versions of university websites: using the Internet Archive in a project finding Australian sociology PhDs

We describe a novel online research method using the Internet Archive to find missing university records. This method was used to locate sociology PhDs completed at Australian universities between 2010 and 2019 in a project investigating publishing during doctoral enrolment. Other methods we had used such as contacting administrators and librarians had provided only partial data. Adding Internet Archive Wayback Machine searching to the existing methods substantially extended our ability to track down PhD theses. This method helped us locate many missing records; it also provided links to other sources we could follow up, such as academic supervisor names. This extra information enabled us to pursue more targeted inquiries with administrators, librarians and academics familiar with specific years in our research period. The significance of this method was in allowing us to reach beyond the disruptive impacts of university restructures on record-keeping.