World Wide Web Virtual Library
 | This article needs to beupdated.(December 2023) |
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(July 2022) |
 Tim Berners-Lee,the founder of the Virtual Library | |
| Available in | English |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1991 |
| Headquarters | CERN(in 1991),, |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Created by | Tim Berners-Lee |
| Founder(s) | Tim Berners-Lee |
| Editors | Arthur Secret, et al. |
| Key people | Tim Berners-Lee,Arthur Secret, Bertrand Ibrahim |
| Services | Web directory |
| URL | vlib |
| Commercial | No |
| Launched | 1991 |
The World Wide Web Virtual Library(WWW VL) was the first index of content on theWorld Wide Weband still operates as a directory ofe-textsand information sources on the web.
Overview
[edit]The Virtual Library was started byTim Berners-Leecreator ofHTMLand theWorld Wide Webitself, in 1991 atCERNinGeneva.[1]Unlike commercial index sites, it is run by a loose confederation of volunteers, who compile pages of key links for particular areas in which they are experts. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "WWWVL", the "Virtual Library" or just "the VL".
The individual indexes, orvirtual librarieslive on hundreds of different servers around the world. A set of index pages linking these individual libraries is maintained atvlib.org,[2]inGenevaonly a few kilometres from where the VL began life. A mirror of this index is kept atEast Angliain theUnited Kingdom.[3]
History
[edit]The Virtual Library was first conceived and run byTim Berners-Leein 1991, and later expanded, organised and managed for several years by Arthur Secret as the "virtual librarian",[4]before it became a formally establishedassociationwith Gerard Manning as its Council's first chairman.[5]The late Bertrand Ibrahim was a key contributor to the pre-association phase of the Virtual Library's development and then served as its Secretary until his untimely death in 2001 at the age of 46. A brief history, with links to archived pages and screenshots, is maintained on the Vlib website.[5]
The Virtual Library grew over the years. For example, there is theWWW-VL History Central Catalogue,[6]which was launched on 21 September 1993 by Lynn H. Nelson atKansas University.[citation needed]From April 2004, it was relocated at theEuropean University Institute,Florence,Italy,where a history of the catalogue is also available.[7]TheVirtual Library museums pages(VLmp) were added byJonathan Bowento the Virtual Library to covermuseumsin 1994.[8]
In 2005, the central WWW Virtual Library website (vlib.org) was taken over by a new member, Michael Chapman, leading to the demise of the project.[9]Access by any other party was denied after a change in password. The elected council, consisting of established maintainers of individual virtual libraries, was ignored, and a new council of non-maintainers with little or no association with the Virtual Library was unilaterally instated. The Virtual Library as a cohesive collective of knowledge websites maintained by experts rapidly waned.
While the Virtual Library as a cooperative of indexed sites, the first on the Web, has ceased to be, many individual virtual library sites continue to be important and valuable academic resources.
See also
[edit]- Virtual Library museums pages(VLmp), the VL entry onmuseums
References
[edit]- ^Wall, Aaron."History of Search Engines: From 1945 to Google Today".Search Engine History.Retrieved2017-05-16.
- ^"The WWW Virtual Library".vlib.org.Retrieved29 July2022.
- ^"The WWW Virtual Library".vlib.org.uk.UK.Retrieved29 July2022.
- ^Gillies, James; Gillies, Robert (2000).How the Web was Born: The Story of the World Wide Web.Oxford University Press.p. 245.ISBN978-0192862075.
- ^ab"History of the Virtual Library".The WWW Virtual Library.Retrieved29 July2022.
- ^"WWW-VL History Central Catalogue".vlib.iue.it.Retrieved29 July2022.
- ^"About the WWW-VL History Central Catalogue".WWW-VL History Central Catalogue.Retrieved29 July2022.
- ^Karp, Cary(October–December 1999). "Setting root on the Internet: Establishing a network identity for the museum community".Museum International.51(4).UNESCO:8–13.doi:10.1111/1468-0033.00223.
- ^"Documents for the History of the destruction of the WWW-VL old project at vlib.org/interarb.com.e".Retrieved17 Aug2023.
