Internet archives

Get started with web archives! This tutorial teaches students how to search and contribute to internet archives — libraries of saved webpages that show what a webpage looked like at a particular time. Students will be introduced to a specific internet archive called the Wayback Machine and learn how it works. If a website doesn’t exist anymore, students can use the Wayback Machine to view old versions of the site, provided someone took a snapshot of it at some point. They can also use internet archives to see what different news organizations’ websites looked like during a major breaking news event. Additionally, students can use internet archives to record a website or social media post for future use. This could capture something important that might later disappear. For example, web archives have been used in court cases, often to hold powerful people and organizations accountable.

Learning objectives:
– I can complete an internet archive search.
– I can archive a news article to an internet archival site.

Essential questions:
– What is a web archive?
– How can one archive a piece of information?
– How does a web archive work?
– When would someone use an internet archive?