Go way back, machine
Where to find it: Internet Archive
– www.archive.org
Who runs the site: Founded in 1996 in the Presidio of San
Francisco, this archive is a nonprofit that strives to maintain
data that has been online the same way a library would archive old
manuscripts or books. The researchers have worked with other
organizations or nonprofits to retrieve data that has been removed
from the Internet.
Go way back, machine
Where to find it: Internet Archive – www.archive.org
Who runs the site: Founded in 1996 in the Presidio of San Francisco, this archive is a nonprofit that strives to maintain data that has been online the same way a library would archive old manuscripts or books. The researchers have worked with other organizations or nonprofits to retrieve data that has been removed from the Internet.
Who is likely to use the site: Researchers, those interested in seeing what used to be on the Internet and people who want to mock the early web pages created by their friends back when sites were hand coded and flash didn’t exist.
Pros: The site archives text, audio, music and moving images so there is a lot to see. The easiest way to navigate the site is if you know of a Web site whose older incarnations you want to review. Type in the url in the Way Back Machine window – an ode to the machine from the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons – and it will take you back to the beginning of Internet time.
The Way Back Machine is the coolest feature on the site. When a coworker and I typed in my old Web burl, the archive returned nearly 40 versions of just the index page. Pretty much every time, I updated the site from 2001 to 2006 has been recorded in Internet history, even though the pages have long been taken down. Some images or pictures or broken, but most of the site is there for all to see.
Cons: The site does have so much information and so many links, it can be overwhelming. When clicking on the text archive link, users are brought to another page where they look at recent additions from American or Canadian libraries. But these two links have a combination of 300,000-plus items.
Also, the site might be a little embarrassing for those who don’t want employees, friends or families to search down old sites that might have outdated photos and maybe a story or two about young love posted on them.
