Error 404

[Thomas Dowling]

-----Original Message-----
From: Earl Sande <sandes at wilken-dsm.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <web4lib at library.berkeley.edu>
Date: Thursday, February 19, 1998 8:28 AM
Subject: Re: Error 404


>Sorry to post this to all, but I deleted the original note.  This came
>today
>from LockerGnome :
>
>(1) Alexa v1.3 [1.6M] 95/NT FREE
>
>  http://www.alexa.com/download/lg/alex130m.exe (IE version)
>  http://www.alexa.com/download/lg/alex130n.exe (NS version)
>  http://www.alexa.com/download/lg/index.html
>
>LISTEN UP, because this proggie is really different. I've featured
>other awesome search utils in Lockergnome before, and each one has
>merit, but take a serious look at Alexa. It has access to an 8
>*TERABYTE* archive of the world wide web. Ever run into a 404
>error message while surfing? If you use Alexa, and the "lost page"
>is within that 8 terabytes, it'll pull it up for you...

Alexa is the current project of Brewster Kahle, inventor of WAIS, and I
think the idea of archiving the Web is breathtaking.

However, I'm more than a little puzzled (and concerned) if the resulting
archive is being marketed as some sort of casual finding tool for misplaced
pages.  I would love to explore the history of a Web site like, say,
www.loc.gov but just banging a URL off a database to see what used to be
there seems more likely to create than resolve confusion.  Why is the page
now getting a 404 status?  Has it been updated, obsoleted, or moved?  Was it
removed because it had incorrect, incomplete, libelous, or fraudulent
information?  Has the organization providing it gone out of business?  Or
has it simply moved to a different server, or a different directory on the
same server?

Without context like that, what am I supposed to do with Alexa results?


>...Alexa also
>has a handy desktop reference button (access the entire
>Encyclopaedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster's Dictionary &
>Thesaurus)--perfect for students.

Uhh...you realize you still have to subscribe to Britannica Online, right?
Anyone can put the BOL search form on their page, but if you aren't a
subscriber, you don't get many results.


Thomas Dowling
OhioLINK - Ohio Library and Information Network
tdowling at ohiolink.edu