UpFront with NGS: Wayback Machine

Showing posts with label Wayback Machine. Show all posts

17 January 2017

NEW Chrome Extension Takes You to Wayback Machine for 404 Page Codes!!!

NEW Chrome Extension Takes You to Wayback Machine for 404 Page Codes!!!

Since many other blogs cover “tech” topics we at Upfront with NGS rarely delve into those topics.

That said, I am a lover of Chrome, a lover of Wayback Machine, and a hater of 404 status coded pages (basically, the page is not found).

Historically (meaning just two days ago), I would have received a 404 error, copied the URL, gone to Wayback Machine, pasted in the URL (and crossed fingers), and waited to see if the no longer available website had been archived. In a large percentage of cases, it has! Phew!

Now, Wayback Machine has created a Chrome browser extension which does all of the above automatically for you!

Read more about the Chrome browser extension, Wayback Machine Chrome extension now available. It does handle more than 404 errors. It detects the following error codes -- 404, 408, 410, 451, 500, 502, 503, 504, 509, 520, 521, 523, 524, 525, and 526.

You can access the extension here.

What non-genealogical specific tech tool do you find really makes your life (real and genealogical) easier?

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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08 September 2016

Wayback Machine ... Time Travel for Genealogists!

Wayback Machine ... Time Travel for Genealogists!

If you are not using to revisit old websites, you are missing out!

I love the Wayback Machine! I actually love it so much that I donate monthly to it. It has saved “my bacon” more times than I care to think about.

I am “usually” pretty good about saving PDF versions of websites I have visited, especially if they contain some good data on a place or family. Of course, that hasn’t always been the case and unfortunately, I still sometimes forget to do it even now.

Of course, it’s the websites that are no longer available that you need the most. That’s where the Wayback Machine comes into play. It is an archive of over 505 billion web pages! Yes – billion. Snapshots are taken through time of websites. This is very helpful not only if a website no longer exists and if it has morphed through time. Armed with a URL, you can see what dates were saved and check out what the website looked like on those dates.

In the past week, I’ve had two needs for the Wayback Machine. In one case a website has been so redesigned that I couldn’t find a neat feature that the old version used to have. In the other case, I was seeking a current link to a document that I referenced in a blog post a few years ago.

Before we delve into that, let’s look at my personal business website, www.mosaicrpm.com. It was created in 2004 and has been redesigned probably 5 times (and not by choice and that’s another story)! The Wayback Machine has saved 73 versions of my website (in every year except 2012) and so it literally has a history of my website. For each year, you are provided a calendar with the specific dates when a “save” was made. Just really cool!

Now, back to my examples … NC Echo used to have an Institutional Directory that was a great resource. One could determine, across NC, what institutions existed in a given county. Recognizing that institutions often hold archival material, this was a window into the more obscure archives of a county. Using an old handout for a talk, I learned what the old URL used to be (it’s the one thing you need to start … the URL!), put it in, checked back a few years (to get to the older and still operating versions of the website) and finally found exactly what I wanted. This time, I did make a PDF of my discovery.

My other example was regarding a document. I had posted something a few years ago with a link to an online document (Scots-Irish research). Searching on the document title just wasn’t finding it anywhere. I dug out the old URL … went back to 2015 (since I knew that sometime in 2016 the page was obviously moved (getting a 404 error)) and voila, here is the document I sought, https://web.archive.org/web/20150402234439/http://www.ncdcr.gov/Portals/7/Collateral/database/nie09.scots.irish.pdf

As you can imagine, I was so thankful to be able to recover these wonderful resources.

What expired or re-organized website did you revisit?

What older web content were you able to “now” access that you thought was lost forever? Share how the Wayback Machine has helped you.

Editor’s Note: Related Upfront with NGS posts on The Internet Archive can be found here and those on the Wayback Machine can be found here.

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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Want to learn more about interacting with the blog, please read Hyperlinks, Subscribing and Comments -- How to Interact with Upfront with NGS Blog posts!

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30 January 2015

Internet Archive -- a FREE gem that just keeps getting better!

If you select the Beta Option, this is the interface you will see

The Internet Archive is a fabulous place to hang out.

I was surprised to see that I haven’t written about it as much as I thought!

My two favorite uses of it are:

1. The wayback machine. You know how websites have a tendency to disappear or their URLs change, etc? Well, via the wayback machine, you might find that there is a “saved” copy of the webpage you seek.

2. The textual archive. So many out-of-copyright (and mostly out-of-print) books are part of this archive. Some of my favorites are old directories, compiled legal & legislative information, county histories, church histories & records, and many many more neat resources.

This all came to mind when I read the article Never trust a corporation to do a library’s job. Though the focus of the article is how Google has abandoned some of it plans for archiving, it also talks glowingly how the Internet Archive has been (since 1996) and increasingly is expanding what it archives and makes FREELY available to us!

Read the article and play around with Internet Archive. I warn you though, don’t start in unless you have a few hours to spend so you can get lost in not just the genealogically relevant bits and also in the video, film, audio and live music collections!

Did you come across anything that helped jump start your family history research project? Or, just something incredibly fun?

Editor’s Note: Related posts ...

+ (2014) Internet Archive Creates a Virtual Visual Feast on Flickr -- Millions of Historical Images -- All FREELY Accessible!

+ (2012) Internet Archive -- still a wonderful and free gem for genealogy and family history researchers!

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want to learn more about interacting with the blog, please read Hyperlinks, Subscribing and Comments -- How to Interact with Upfront with NGS Blog posts!

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Follow NGS via Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Twitter