Archive.org suffers Fahrenheit 911 memory loss

[ixion]

By Ashlee Vance in Chicago
Published Friday 9th July 2004 16:13 GMT


Opinion You don't often think about libraries in terms of strength. Few mayors tout the large sack of the local book depository or put it up against a massive skyscraper during PR stunts. Libraries are pretty passive creatures that receive some credit for the quantity of volumes they hold but not much credit these days for being powerful entities.

That is until you run across something like Archive.org. For where the Library of Congress exudes strength, Archive.org piddles weakness. The site is really a reminder of how not far the Internet has come and how strong some old traditions really are.

The supposed Internet archiving site is not a passive entity at all. It doesn't simply collect more and more data for the use of researchers as it claims. Instead, Archive.org actively engages in odd publicity stunts and actively pulls down information. What could be weaker than a media-hungry library with disappearing material?


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Beyond any of this, Archive.org does a poor job of recording sites - you know, the ones it doesn't erase. Response times are horrible and more often than not only a few old examples of sites exist.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/09/archive_yeahright_org/





pretty good read... gives a nice overview of the selective memory of our supposed LOC.