Resurrect the dead online and step back into time

Mar 5, 2008

Resurrect the dead online and step back into time - Blog researching with a twist

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Sherlock Holmes Have you ever been feverishly scouting about on Google or other search engines, find the one utterly tremendous resource for your blogging needs, clicked on it…only to discover (gasp!) that page no longer exists?

Oh, the a-go-ninny! More irritating than witnessing your computer embrace the Blue Screen of Death after a power hit (okay, that might be a wee bit of an exaggeration), generally users will say, oh drat, I must find another resource to assist me in my quest.

But…..perhaps that’s not necessary! Perhaps….you can ressurect that dead webpage and glimpse into the data that no longer exists at the site! Perhaps…you can Actually Gain a Benefit from the Prior 8 Hours of Research!

Nirvana that is, sheer nirvana. But I digress.

I’ve got excellent news for you - you can and you will! It’s called The WayBack Machine. This magnificent beast has indexed sites for the past, oh, 12 years - you can visit and see prior renditions of any site online.

For example, here’s the front page of eBay from 1997.
And eBay from 1999!
Don’t forget about Yahoo from 1996!

Are you starting to see the benefits of this site? No no no, it’s not so you can peruse thru prior renditions (although that’s neat too!)…it’s that you can bring up specific pages that no longer exist online today.

Let me use one of my favorite lessons to illustrate this point. Let’s say that you blog about model horses, and the joys of customizing them. An avid sleuth, you manage to come across a Helpful Hints page that contains (oh joy!) links to molding and casting your own resin models. But woe! Our friend A-Go-Ninny re-surfaces when you click on that link….because (insert ominous music tone here)

It’s….No…..Longer…..Online

But now! Now indeed, you don’t have to panic, you don’t have to quail in fear - all you have to do is right-click on the link, highlight the URL and copy it by pressing <CONTROL>C (the control key and the C key together) and then past that link

(in our case, it’s http://www.mindspring.com/~dedeale/molding.html)

at the WayBack Machine. Click on "Take Me Back" and you’ll see:

Way Back Machine

Click Feb 10, 1999, and you’ll see the original Model Horse Tips page.

Nice, eh?

You can use the Way Back Machine for many many things! For example, back in 1999, I was a Microsoft Small Business Success Story. Microsoft took that page off years ago, but you can still see it:

The Barbara Ling Success Story

Here are 3 excellent ways to apply this to your blogging.

1.) Blog Research - You now have a whole galaxy of resources available to you.

Pages don’t have to be active now for you to refer to them - you can simply find earlier renditions of them at the Way Back Machine and include those direct URLS.

2.) Personal Branding - You can keep a complete list of your awards/resources, even if the page no longer exists.

Sites will often undergo a look and feel redesign….and pages will often go bye-bye because of that. But by finding them again at the Way Back Machine, you have them at your fingertips (and it looks great on a resume as well).

3.) Validation - Who was first?

If you find two sites that claim ownership on the publication of an idea/comment, you look at the pages referenced and see which one is earlier. NOTE! Because the WayBack Machine indexes at different times, this is not a 100% valid proofing mechanism…but it does help give you some ideas on which to go.

The WayBack Machine is a great tool you can use in your current blogging today! Use it well; you’d be suprised at how many great resources you uncover.

ThankYouVeryMuch!

Owlbert

(By the way, if you have any questions about the topics in this posting "Resurrect the dead online and step back into time - Blog researching with a twist", do comment below - I'll try to clarify any issues).

Barbara Ling and Owlbert

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