Brewster Kahle Saves the Web

The Internet Archive is one of the largest archives of digital media in existence. It contains five times more information than is in the Library of Congress and several times more information than is currently available publicly on the web. David Womack interviewed its creator, Brewster Kahle, for Loop.

Womack, David. AIGA (2002). Articles>Web Design>History

'Faces of the Fallen' and the Dematerialization of US War Memorials    

The advent of internet technology has enabled the process of memorialization of those killed in US military conflicts to keep pace with the casualties themselves and, as such, has marked a shift in both the ideology of the war memorial as symbol and the ideology-driven media use of those symbols. This article argues that a process of increasing humanization and specificity enabled by the information architecture of the internet has led to a form of `war memorial', exemplified by www.facesofthefallen.org, that emphasizes decontexualized human loss at the expense of a coherent representation of a military nature for the loss itself.

Grider, Nicholas. Visual Communication (2007). Articles>Web Design>Visual Rhetoric>History

The History of Weblogs

Weblogs are often-updated sites that point to articles elsewhere on the web, often with comments, and to on-site articles.

Winer, Dave. Weblogs.com (2003). Articles>Web Design>History>Blogging

Kill the 53-Day Meme

One frequently finds newspaper or magazine articles about the Internet or the World Wide Web stating that the number of servers on the WWW is doubling every 53 days, 'according to a source at Sun Microsystems.' Well, I am that source, and I don't believe the 53-day estimate any more.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1995). Articles>Web Design>History

Podcasting: The Devastating Lows, the Dizzying Highs, the Creeeeeeeamy Middles

I'm going to introduce podcasting via talking about its history, and work through what a podcast actually is. Then I'll talk about our experience podcasting WE05, both from a practical and a business point of view. The overarching theme of this presentation will be podcasting from the broadcaster's point of view. For info about podcasting from the listener's point of view, check this page here.

Sherrin, Maxine. Western Civilization (2005). (Afrikaans) Articles>Web Design>History>Podcasting

Tracking Changes on Web Pages

Often a small change to a web page is a clue that something big has happened or will happen, and automated tracking tools alert you the moment something has changed.

Price, Gary. Search Engine Watch (2006). Articles>Web Design>Search>History

Using the Internet as a Tool for Public Service: Creating a Community History Web Site    

Creating a community history Web site is a way for technical communication practitioners, students, and teachers to improve their expertise while performing a valuable public service. Developers of this kind of Web site combine personal interest in the history and culture of their chosen communities with professional interest in a wide range of skills: for example, online research, Web site design, creation of artwork, photography, graphics editing, collaboration, professional/technical writing, as well as site publication and promotion. Technical communicators working on community history Web sites enjoy creative freedom that makes these projects especially engaging and fun. While learning about subjects of particular interest and improving professional skills, developers gain the satisfaction of trying to help communities increase civic pride and heritage tourism. Also, the technical communication profession benefits when its members demonstrate good citizenship to employers, other constituencies, and the public.

Henson, Darold Leigh. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2005). Articles>Web Design>Community Building>History

Weblogs: A History and Perspective

Rebecca Blood, an early blogger, describes the rise of blogging.

Blood, Rebecca. Adobe (2005). Articles>Web Design>History>Blogging

Weblogs and Power Laws

It's been shown that the distribution of links on the web scales according to a power law, so it comes as no surprise that the distribution of links to weblogs does as well.

Kottke, Jason. kottke.org (2003). Articles>Web Design>History>Blogging