October 9, 1998

Contact:
Contact: Guy Lamolinara, Library of Congress (202) 707-9217
Cynthia Lohr, Alexa Internet (415) 561-6786
Quimby Mills, Antenna Group Public Relations (415) 896-1800;

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Library of Congress To Receive Archive of World Wide Web From Alexa Internet

EMBARGOED AND CONFIDENTIAL UNTIL TUESDAY, OCT. 13, 10 a.m.

MEDIA ADVISORY

WHAT: An archive of the World Wide Web will be donated by Alexa Internet to the Library of Congress as the first large-scale contribution of digital materials to be received and preserved by the Library. The Web is housed in a sculpture comprising four fire-engine red monitors stacked upon one another, the monitors intermittently flash random Web sites. There will be an opportunity to photograph the participants and the sculpture.

WHEN: Tuesday, Oct. 13, 10 a.m.

WHERE: Digital Library Visitors' Center
Library of Congress Madison Building
101 Independence Ave. S.E., First Floor Atrium

WHO: Winston Tabb, Associate Librarian for Library Services
Brewster Kahle, President, Alexa Internet

BACKGROUND

Alexa Internet, provider of the free Web navigation service Alexa, will donate a copy of the public World Wide Web to the Library of Congress. The donation comprises two terabytes of Web content, which will become part of the collections of the Library and preserved for future generations.

According to Alexa Internet, the size of the Web will reach 1 billion pages by the year 2000. Yet, just as many important books are now out of print, 1 percent of all Web pages are removed from the Web or altered after one week. It is thus necessary for the Library to collect this digital information as a historical record of the nation's -- and the world's -- on-line creativity.

The Library of Congress is the world's largest library, with more than 113 million items in its collections, which cover nearly all fields of knowledge in all formats. Founded in 1800, the Library will celebrate its bicentennial in 2000. The Library's Web site (www.loc.gov) is a major contributor of intellectual content to the Internet and handles more than 60 million transactions per month.

Alexa Internet was founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat and provides the free Alexa Web navigation service at www.alexa.com. The company donates a copy of the Web on an ongoing basis to the nonprofit Internet Archive, which is endowed to preserve digital heritage for scholarly access.

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PR 98-168
10/9/98
ISSN 0731-3527