<$BlogRSDUrl$> Marcus P. Zillman, M.S., A.M.H.A. Author/Speaker/Consultant
Marcus P. Zillman, M.S., A.M.H.A. Author/Speaker/Consultant
Internet Happenings, Events and Sources


Monday, June 28, 2004  

The Case of the Vanishing Links
http://www.darwinmag.com/read/060104/links.html

CalState Northridge business librarian Alan T. Schroeder Jr. calls attention to some research by Robert Dellavalle of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center on the phenomenon of so-called dynamic URLs. "In a recent issue of Science, Dellavalle and colleagues determined after only three months, the journals New England Journal of Medicine, Science and Nature had 3.8 percent of their article references inactive. After 15 months, 10 percent were found inactive and after 27 months, 13 percent were inactive. These journals are print staples in most research libraries and if references in these heavyweights are susceptible to incomplete research, imagine the percentages in less reputable publications related to URL longevity." He continues: "Incomplete repointing (or 'hardware reconfiguration') of servers leads many to a research dead end. If the required URL now has a new IP address with no legacy page or 'paper trail' created during repointing, you probably will never find that URL again. As server hosts come and go, mergers occur, data migrates to new systems and companies go bankrupt, expect this problem to continue. Expect URLs to continue to disappear with no explanation. And expect to see a lot of conflicting and duplicative research." What can be done in the short term? Schroeder urges researchers involved in ongoing, lengthy research to recheck URLs for accuracy and currency on a monthly or bi-weekly basis as their research progresses toward publication.

posted by Marcus Zillman | 4:00 AM
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