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Posted May 15, 2011 at 11:57AM
Help please. I've had the same ISP for the past few years which, as such, hosts my web sites. Some of these have historical value and are unique. For instance, The History of Frenchay Hospital, The History of East Ham Grammar School and The History of the Land associated with the University of Bristol's Sports Ground. There are some others, too. I am getting on a bit - 78 a couple of weeks ago. At some stage in the relatively near future I'm bound to die and, when I do, my monthly payment to the ISP will cease. Some time after they'll take down my web sites along with their historical value. My question: 'is there any way that these features can be preserved?' Do all web sites get archived somewhere or do they all 'die'?
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Posted May 15, 2011 at 12:34PM
Good Question!
Web sites disappear all the time, and of course, it mostly doesn't matter.
The Forum Editor is probably the man most likely to be able to answer your question about archived web sites.
My self, I would be inclined to go the old fashioned way, print it out get it published and then the British Library would be keeping a copy for posterity.
:0)
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Posted May 15, 2011 at 12:54PM
If they have been achived by The Wayback Machine they will be avalaible for ever. (or as long as it lasts)
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Posted May 15, 2011 at 3:11PM
Thanks. Some of the files have been archived by The Wayback Machine but, to find them you have to know the precise url, which will also disappear when I cease paying! Also, there seems to be no equivalent to a Google search within the site - you must enter the full url.
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Posted May 15, 2011 at 3:24PM
Never used this program but it seems to be able to download web sites to your hard drive and transfer to CDs or USB drives. It wont be online but the information will be saved. Worth a look. Not free,though.
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Posted May 15, 2011 at 3:31PM
You could ask someone to copy these sites by downloading them in their entirety via ftp (File Transfer Protocol) - this would be a one off snapshot of how they look and useful for backup purposes. They could then be uploaded to another webserver hosted by someone who is prepared to do so for the future. (Maybe a historical Society for example) Can you give us links to these sites so we might take a look?
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Posted May 15, 2011 at 3:38PM
Here are some of my links
Frenchay Hospital http://www.jbinternet.plus.com/hosphist/01newintro.htm East Ham Grammar School http://www.jbinternet.plus.com/EHGS/ WW2 Focke-Wulf jet project http://www.jbinternet.plus.com/Flitzer/flitzer.htm
I have quite a number of other sites with historical interest, but I'm sure three are enough to go on with!
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Posted May 15, 2011 at 3:55PM
Perhaps not the answer you are seeking, but have you thought about contacting your local museums or records office. They may have information and advice available or a register of other interested parties that might be prepared to assist?.
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Posted May 16, 2011 at 2:35PM
I found your question very thought provoking with the vast amount of data in 'personal' sites that must fall into this category. As a result I asked my ISP as to their (and perhaps all ISPs) policy on the subject. To date I have only a reply that tends only to increase my curiosity as they simply asked for the URLs I was interested in. I have responded to this with a specific request for their policy; I have feeling they may be scrabbling around to produce one now!!
As and when (or maybe 'if') I get a specific reply I shall reproduce it here for the information of all.
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Posted May 16, 2011 at 3:57PM
John, Thanks for that helpful reply. I posed much the same question to my ISP. Their reply was:
"Thanks for getting in contact with us. There is an website that does archive almost every website created at certain points from the past. If you go to http://www.archive.org/web/web.php you can search for your websites to check if they've been stored on the database.
However, even though these will be stored on that server it won't be linked to your specific domain name; to do that the domain would need to continue to be paid for."
I investigated the 'archive.org', as I described above. I subsequently discovered that they strongly tend to only archive Home Pages. I'm also told that their archive pages will be taken down when the original site/s cease to exist.
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Posted May 28, 2011 at 5:23PM
Well I've given my ISP plenty of time to respond, but they apparently either have no wish to do so or have no answer to such a difficult question.
I feel it likely the answer you have "There is an website that does archive .." would be the most likely from most suppliers as it would otherwise cost money to support a non-paying site and store it.
It is a pity there is little information online about such situations as vast amounts of information must be stored by individuals in this way and there is a real risk that it will become inaccessible or lost eventually. Perhaps what is needed is some form of 'library' but how this would be funded I'm unsure.
Sorry I didn't get any further than you have.
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