Books published online will soon be collected and preserved by the National Library of Australia (NLA) in Canberra after new legislation was adopted by Federal Parliament.

From January next year everything from electronic books (e-books) to blogs will be collected, along with prominent websites and important social media messages to capture a snapshot of Australian life.

Previously under copyright laws, the library was able to collect all books produced by local publishers through the legal deposit system.

However under the amendment, the library will be able to preserve published items from the internet that could disappear from view in future.

Director of the library's Australian collection management Alison Dellit said the legislation had closed a worrying loop hole.

"Certainly what we have seen in the last few years is a significant growth in the amount of digital publication," she said.

"This legislation puts us in a position where we are able to ask publishers to deposit electronic material with the National Library in a comprehensive way.

National Library's Alison Dellit with the preserved official website of the Sydney 2000 Olympics. ( ABC News: Clarissa Thorpe )

"So we will be able to open that up and collect the whole of the Australian domain, for websites for example it means we are able to collect e-books that are only published in digital form."

The library has been collecting material from Australian websites since 1996, including election posts from politicians and the official site of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

Ms Dellit said the new legislation would expand the digital preservation at the Library and ensure future collections reflected society.

"I think its undeniable that a large part of Australian culture is lived out through digital publication, particularly online and through the web," she said.

"We have whole communities that engage and are able to come together that way.

"A lot of that material is only really available through online publication so we will be able to capture that and give a sense of Australian society as a whole."

Growing shift towards digital publishing of fiction

Escape Publishing releases about 100 electronic books (e-books) a year for the thriving romance novel market.

Managing editor Kate Cuthbert welcomed the decision to start preserving the swelling number of digital publications.

Romance e-books by Australian authors represent one of the fastest growing sectors of digital publishing. ( Supplied: Escape Publishing )

"So many of Australia's emerging authors are coming from that digital space, so it will be really great to capture their work from the very beginning, even if they never move in to the print market.

"E-books are a growth industry, particularly if you are looking at the fiction genre.

"Authors are able to chase a wider audience, perhaps even an international audience so the chances for exposure and finding a niche market are much, much greater in digital."

Sandy Grant leads Hardie Grant Publishing which focuses on non-fiction titles about sport, biographies, food and wine.

He has been watching overseas trends in e-book purchases closely.

"We are still seeing some growth in Australia, but the international trends are flattening out," Mr Grant said.

"Perhaps there was a bit of early over excitement as people bought a new machines and built a library but it seems now the pattern has plateaued and has fallen slightly in the US and UK in the past 12 months.

"But it is still a considerable part of the market, even with our non-fiction titles it can be 20 per cent of our sales."

In order to collect billions of pages of new online Australian content the Library will look at expanded data storage facilities.