Communications of the ACM
Stanford Libraries nearths the Earliest .s. Website
Stanford Libraries' Stanford Wayback is a customized platform that enables long-terms access to archive Web assets.
Credit: Stanford University
Stanford Libraries has launched Stanford Wayback, a customized version of an open-source platform that enables long-term access to archived Web assets.
The Stanford researchers identified the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, which was created in 1991, as the earliest known website in the United States. "Thankfully, a handful of staff at SLAC who worked on the early Web fortuitously saved the files, along with their timestamps, associated with the first and several subsequent versions of their website," says Stanford Libraries Web archiving service manager Nicholas Taylor.
Stanford Wayback brings early websites back to life, as well as thousands of historical SLAC Web pages and related Web assets from 1991-1999, providing users with a snapshot of the Web's evolution. "The early pages of the Web may seem rudimentary and visually dull to today's user; however, they offer great insight into Web history, functionality, changes and trends," Taylor says.
Stanford Wayback is part of Stanford Libraries' Web archiving initiative, which aims to collect, preserve, and provide access to Web content that is at risk of being updated, replaced, or lost. "In order to fulfill our mission it is imperative that we curate and make accessible for current and future generations Web-based content on topics that matter to our community," says Stanford University librarian Michael Keller.
From Stanford Report (CA)
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