Internet Archive

Just as I made the point recently about blogging being an international pastime, it is also one whose participants are generally curious in nature.  They read thoughts from people all over the world, apply their own lenses to the perspectives published and weigh in with comments.  Others do the same thing, an so on.

My curiosity not only extends globally, but back in time as well.  As I was conducting research for my next Free Blog Review, I wanted to get a glimpse of what that site looked like in the past.  I remember it generally, but the new look is outstanding and I wanted to make a point about it.  During that search, I ran across InternetArchive.org.  They are a non-profit organization, committed to developing an Internet Library, providing free access to information that exists digitally.  From their About IA page:

The Internet Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that was founded to build an Internet library. Its purposes include offering permanent access for researchers, historians, scholars, people with disabilities, and the general public to historical collections that exist in digital format. Founded in 1996 and located in the Presidio of San Francisco, the Archive has been receiving data donations from Alexa Internet and others. In late 1999, the organization started to grow to include more well-rounded collections. Now the Internet Archive includes texts, audio, moving images, and software as well as archived web pages in our collections, and is working to provide specialized services relating to training, education, or adaptive reading or information access needs of blind or other persons with disabilities.

The Wayback Machine

They have a specific service in which I was interested, which is called The Wayback Machine. They have over 150 billion web pages archived back to 1996.  Of course, not all web sites in the world are cataloged.  I did not find a previous version of the blog under review, but many large, commercial sites are there.  Here’s a look through the years at the results of a CNN search, and next, what CNN had to say on January 23, 2003.

What CNN had to say on January 23, 2003

The day I prepared this review the site’s response time was not great.  Since I’m new to the service, I don’t know if that is normal.  However, if you need an historical perspective of the world wide web through the eyes of a commercial site, this is your place.

It’s unfortunate that I did not find a previous look of the site I am reviewing currently.  But check back soon for that review and a great new look of that site – this time, its a look “for the future.”

Dave