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The Internet Archive is working to prevent the Internet ‹ a new medium with major historical significance ‹ and other "born-digital" materials from disappearing into the past. Collaborating with institutions including the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian, we are working to preserve a record for generations to come.

Smithsonian Institution's 1996 US Election Display

Page from a snapshot of the Web, now in the Smithsonian
A display at the Smithsonian Institution shows how presidential candidates and parties first used the Web. The display includes 1996 campaign pages for five political parties — as well as pages such as the "Steve Forbes Official Home Page" and the "Official Internet Headquarters of the [Pat] Buchanan Brigade," which were captured before some candidates dropped out of the race and scaled back or shut down their sites.

The display also includes pages from the Federal Election Commission site with financial information about candidates, parties, and political action committees.

World Wide Web 1997: 2 Terabytes in 63 Inches

Sculpture of 1997 Web snapshot in the lobby of the Library of Congress

What would a snapshot of the Web look like? Visitors passing through the lobby of the Library of Congress get the picture when they see a sculpture — a stack of computer screens and tapes housing a snapshot of the Web in early 1997 — by Alan Rath. The Internet Archive is proud to have part of its collections in the Library of Congress.

Data gift of Alexa Internet

Watch a demo of the sculpture(if you have an DSL or faster connection)

Xerox PARC Research Projects

"It Grows on Its Own Like an Ecosystem"

The Internet Ecologies Area at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center is using multiple snapshots from the Internet Archive on disk — "the Web in a box" — as a kind of test tube for understanding the Web. "We see the Web as an ‘information ecology,’ where we study the relationships between people and information," says PARC researcher Jim Pitkow.

PARC "benefited greatly" from access to the Archive’s crawls, says Pitkow’s colleague and Stanford physics professor Bernardo Huberman. According to Pitkow, access to the snapshots "is great for researchers because it lets them fuse traditional tools and techniques with new tools that haven’t existed before."

Huberman describes a PARC study that produced a mathematical "law of surfing," which says that Web traffic follows predictable, regular patterns. For example, in a manifestation of the "winner take all" principle, it turns out that just a few Web sites get most of the traffic. The researchers were also able to show how deeply people delve into a typical Web site: on average, it’s about a page and a half. Huberman has also studied Internet congestion as a social dilemma, where people weigh the costs and benefits of putting up with slow traffic versus waiting until the network is less crowded.

In a study of the topology of the Web, a Stanford graduate student working on PARC’s Internet ecology project found that any two Web sites are no more than four clicks away from each other — hard evidence that the world is smaller than it seems, on the Web at least.

Research on this scale and of this complexity makes new thinking possible in a whole range of fields, from graph theory to sociology. Pitkow compares what’s happening to the Einstein-era thrust past the limitations of Newtonian physics into quantum mechanics: "The Web," he says, "requires a whole new form of understanding."


New Post Wayback Machine Forum Subscribe to or unsubscribe from this forum RSS feed of most recent posts to this forum
SubjectPoster RepliesDate
How to download a website off the WBM? PTL 1 November 26, 2009 09:28:09am
  Re: How to download a website off the WBM? UIU 1 November 26, 2009 09:39:39am
    Re: How to download a website off the WBM? PTL 0 November 26, 2009 09:52:11am
How do I get my site back onto the Wayback Machine? Charl LastName 1 November 21, 2009 08:10:50pm
  Re: How do I get my site back onto the Wayback Machine? sitedownload.net 0 November 22, 2009 05:12:35am
Robots.txt rules makes little baby Miles Prower cry The_Emperor_Of_Television 0 November 14, 2009 11:34:54pm
Delete my website. Please. delete.delete 1 November 13, 2009 03:36:36am
  Re: Delete my website. Please. delete.deletee 0 November 20, 2009 01:14:22am
Archive.org video disappeared? charles37 0 November 07, 2009 01:16:37pm
Archive, misc question please; jeffreydavidmorris 0 November 03, 2009 11:15:35pm
legal resource fellowe 0 November 03, 2009 01:38:33pm
Question on Viewing Pages Via Wayback (AKA the world's most excessively long message board Post in Glorious Technicolor/Panavision) The_Emperor_Of_Television 1 October 31, 2009 11:07:22pm
  Re: Question on Viewing Pages Via Wayback (AKA the world's most excessively long message board Post in Glorious Technicolor/Panavision) gojomo 1 November 12, 2009 02:29:19pm
    Re: Question on Viewing Pages Via Wayback (AKA the world's most excessively long message board Post in Glorious Technicolor/Panavision) The_Emperor_Of_Television 0 November 12, 2009 03:11:22pm
How can I get a copy of my site that is archived here? M. Lebeau 2 October 31, 2009 06:33:31pm
  Re: How can I get a copy of my site that is archived here? Fayesy 0 November 03, 2009 07:17:43pm
  Re: How can I get a copy of my site that is archived here? jonc 0 November 03, 2009 09:03:42pm
how long to have something removed? scattered555 0 October 30, 2009 01:53:51pm
Geocities Backup/Mirror geocities 0 October 28, 2009 05:58:12pm
big domain changes in Serbia (old .yu to new .rs) urukalo 0 October 27, 2009 04:41:21pm
Delete or Restrict Certain Years Ken010 0 October 26, 2009 04:53:49pm
Archiving more than 560 pages? Tae wong 3 October 24, 2009 01:50:51pm
  Re: Archiving more than 560 pages? NoiseCollector 1 January 15, 2009 09:25:32pm
    Re: Archiving more than 560 pages? reasonable alternative 0 March 21, 2009 04:12:51am
publichealth publichealth 0 October 23, 2009 01:30:22am
herbal pillows leehello 0 October 22, 2009 01:22:27am
When my site add? cek Magdurlari 0 October 19, 2009 04:02:43am
Changed my site before listed in the wayback machine? SEOlab 0 October 16, 2009 09:49:41am
Geocities Love! denmanarts 3 October 13, 2009 04:07:00pm
  Re: Geocities Love! gojomo 0 October 14, 2009 03:26:57pm
  Re: Geocities Love! misskosmic 1 October 18, 2009 02:02:05am
    Re: Geocities Love! JacobZhu 0 October 18, 2009 02:59:49am
  Re: Geocities Love! joey245 0 November 14, 2009 01:19:58pm
emergency wayback question! Saatchi 1 October 10, 2009 11:00:43am
  Re: emergency wayback question! gojomo 0 October 14, 2009 03:28:20pm
When I click on archived URL, it takes me to today's current URL. Why? MaggieMay3939 1 October 09, 2009 06:44:09pm
  Re: When I click on archived URL, it takes me to today's current URL. Why? glenn 0 October 10, 2009 10:50:14am
Why no archiving of urls for ages? londonsean 2 October 07, 2009 01:25:50pm
  Re: Why no archiving of urls for ages? Velid 0 October 27, 2009 04:24:05pm
  Re: Why no archiving of urls for ages? Velid 0 October 27, 2009 04:24:05pm
Is it possible to search every webpage, or do I need a URL? goirishgo 1 October 05, 2009 11:29:49am
  Re: Is it possible to search every webpage, or do I need a URL? u3schools 0 October 06, 2009 02:31:40am
A Question about the "Archive-That!" thingy Seto-Kaiba_Is_Stupid 0 October 03, 2009 04:18:41pm
Blogspot? Seto-Kaiba_Is_Stupid 0 October 03, 2009 03:25:35pm
Is there any way to wayback this page's info before Oct,2006? PakoC 0 October 02, 2009 12:41:40am
Robots.txt against the spirit of archiving ISOMissingArchives 1 September 29, 2009 10:20:18pm
Book Stacks Unlimited dscanlon 1 September 28, 2009 09:16:16am
Cannot access archive... serim 1 September 23, 2009 05:56:58am
Is there still time to submit GeoCities sites? Seto-Kaiba_Is_Stupid 2 September 22, 2009 04:18:42pm
  Re: Is there still time to submit GeoCities sites? Chrisseh-chan 4 September 22, 2009 07:45:21pm
    Re: Is there still time to submit GeoCities sites? Seto-Kaiba_Is_Stupid 2 September 22, 2009 09:00:53pm
      Re: Is there still time to submit GeoCities sites? Chrisseh-chan 3 September 25, 2009 11:54:15am
    Re: Is there still time to submit GeoCities sites? ohtar 0 November 20, 2009 04:07:30am
Amazing - More Pages are now viewable on "Wayback" Seto-Kaiba_Is_Stupid 1 September 22, 2009 02:16:29pm
Suggestion for HTTP handling at http://web.archive.org/web/.. mpe 2 September 19, 2009 03:42:45pm
Forever post message innocented 1 September 18, 2009 02:26:50pm
Site pcnetworks.gr is not archived pcnw 2 September 18, 2009 06:14:26am
  Re: Site pcnetworks.gr is not archived infoasianet.com 2 September 20, 2009 10:49:57pm
Looking for a dead site - url missing cell47 1 September 18, 2009 05:54:14am
BTI Foreign Trade BTI Foreign trade 1 September 15, 2009 12:33:01pm
post free classified theadsbook 1 September 12, 2009 01:36:24pm
Add casino downloads Tae wong 2 September 12, 2009 09:17:48am
  Re: Add casino downloads www.kolici.com 0 November 01, 2009 09:34:53am
English Traditional Songs and Carols (1908) angelfire4xx 1 September 03, 2009 08:13:57am
Firefox won't allow mirror pwiecek 1 August 27, 2009 11:09:52pm
I Sincerely doubt I'm gonna get an intelligent answer, but.. Seto-Kaiba_Is_Stupid 3 August 19, 2009 05:03:23pm
  Re: I Sincerely doubt I'm gonna get an intelligent answer, but.. glenn 1 October 10, 2009 10:36:16am
    Re: I Sincerely doubt I'm gonna get an intelligent answer, but.. The_Emperor_Of_Television 1 October 14, 2009 12:29:07am
      Re: I Sincerely doubt I'm gonna get an intelligent answer, but.. NoiseCollector 0 October 14, 2009 06:36:09am
  Re: I Sincerely doubt I'm gonna get an intelligent answer, but.. Kimeesteres 1 October 26, 2009 02:40:25pm
    Re: I Sincerely doubt I'm gonna get an intelligent answer, but.. The_Emperor_Of_Television 1 October 26, 2009 06:00:10pm
      Re: I Sincerely doubt I'm gonna get an intelligent answer, but.. Kimeesteres 1 October 27, 2009 07:51:00am
        Re: I Sincerely doubt I'm gonna get an intelligent answer, but.. The_Emperor_Of_Television 1 October 27, 2009 09:48:43am
          Re: I Sincerely doubt I'm gonna get an intelligent answer, but.. ethanpyc 0 November 07, 2009 11:00:22pm
weird navigating issues...?? RumoredTTSN 1 August 19, 2009 04:08:42pm
who do I need to write to about infringement? quigs 4 August 15, 2009 08:26:59am
  Re: who do I need to write to about infringement? skies 2 August 15, 2009 08:37:22am
    Re: who do I need to write to about infringement? quigs 2 August 15, 2009 08:40:57am
      Re: who do I need to write to about infringement? jonc 1 August 15, 2009 08:57:16am
  Re: who do I need to write to about infringement? skies 1 August 15, 2009 08:41:04am
  Re: who do I need to write to about infringement? ZenRunner 1 September 03, 2009 04:30:32am
Site Not Being Archived Anymore rgraves 1 August 13, 2009 07:29:33am
HEY MesCasinos 3 August 11, 2009 01:57:58pm
  Re: HEY skies 1 August 29, 2009 12:18:04pm
  Re: HEY skies 1 August 29, 2009 12:43:20pm
    Re: HEY MesCasinos 2 August 29, 2009 12:46:24pm
      Re: HEY skies 0 August 29, 2009 12:49:15pm
      Re: HEY skies 1 August 29, 2009 01:22:27pm
        Re: HEY skies 0 August 29, 2009 01:25:41pm
Perils of digital preservtion (of the web) Ahmad Gharbeia 1 August 08, 2009 11:45:11pm
Wayback Web Annotations Brylie 0 2 August 04, 2009 11:32:58am
  Re: Wayback Web Annotations Brylie Oxley 1 August 05, 2009 03:35:29pm
Southern Oregon Timberjacks archives NostalgiaBuff2009 1 August 01, 2009 09:43:05am
Is web archive stopped to crowl sites? viaggindia 2 July 29, 2009 11:07:22pm
  Re: Is web archive stopped to crowl sites? Velid 2 July 31, 2009 01:54:26pm
    Re: Is web archive stopped to crowl sites? olsmithy 2 August 01, 2009 12:22:25am
      Re: Is web archive stopped to crowl sites? Velid 1 August 01, 2009 03:20:32am
        Re: Is web archive stopped to crowl sites? Diana Hamilton 1 August 01, 2009 05:49:31am
          Re: Is web archive stopped to crowl sites? olsmithy 1 August 01, 2009 12:07:03pm
Please someone delete my archives broonaa 1 July 28, 2009 12:11:30am
  Re: Please someone delete my archives kustota 0 July 28, 2009 08:23:55am
finding someone to get my website back filaman 0 July 27, 2009 01:54:22pm
Why isn't akban.org archived? Akban wiki 1 July 24, 2009 09:38:31pm
  Re: Why isn't akban.org archived? Akban wiki 1 August 03, 2009 11:51:55pm
    Re: Why isn't akban.org archived? Akban wiki 0 August 11, 2009 10:55:52am
This is Getting Silly Seto-Kaiba_Is_Stupid 0 July 24, 2009 01:56:35am
Scanning qippo.com LaKosta 0 July 22, 2009 11:43:18pm
install the wayback machine 1.4.1 punix81 0 July 21, 2009 02:22:49am
add: www.atlantisway.com kinsha 1 July 15, 2009 01:41:08pm
  Re: add: www.atlantisway.com kustota 0 July 15, 2009 04:56:52pm
Add this web site : www.seslihece.com NickHotine 1 July 15, 2009 09:47:14am
  Re: Add this web site : www.seslihece.com kustota 0 July 15, 2009 04:57:50pm
antalya.pol.tr afa1999 0 July 13, 2009 11:56:06pm
peanutallergy.com saknjmom 0 July 08, 2009 12:12:38pm
Downloading file sunvegas_dh.exe? Tae wong 0 July 07, 2009 08:32:47am
Any way to to upload resources? Character Education 1 July 06, 2009 08:23:09pm
  Re: Any way to to upload resources? kustota 0 July 06, 2009 11:37:29pm
Missing pictures on web pages and Upload System Ceyockey 1 June 28, 2009 05:34:47pm
  Re: Missing pictures on web pages and Upload System kustota 0 June 28, 2009 06:09:37pm
You should archive Michael Jackson phenomenon allmmm 3 June 26, 2009 04:12:45pm
  Re: You should archive Michael Jackson phenomenon B. Stockwell 1 June 26, 2009 05:38:10pm
    Re: You should archive Michael Jackson phenomenon Seto-Kaiba_Is_Stupid 0 June 26, 2009 06:29:12pm
  Re: You should archive Michael Jackson phenomenon jonc 1 June 26, 2009 06:46:11pm
    Re: You should archive Michael Jackson phenomenon singinglessonsin 0 June 30, 2009 07:46:37am
  Re: You should archive Michael Jackson phenomenon kbrigan 1 June 27, 2009 06:43:24am
    Re: You should archive Michael Jackson phenomenon rjcb3 0 August 11, 2009 06:03:05am
Full text search engine (like 'Recall') mimmo2009 0 June 25, 2009 02:36:46pm
why the archive is not working SMR-list 1 June 23, 2009 12:47:25pm
  Re: why the archive is not working Seto-Kaiba_Is_Stupid 1 June 23, 2009 04:04:23am
    Re: why the archive is not working archaeme 1 July 06, 2009 03:42:14pm
      Re: why the archive is not working Seto-Kaiba_Is_Stupid 1 July 06, 2009 05:17:58pm
        Re: why the archive is not working Velid 1 July 31, 2009 01:56:19pm
          Re: why the archive is not working Karissa 0 September 11, 2009 07:16:09pm

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