Slides of a paper presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives. Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
The paper reconstructs the history of the deleted top-level domain of Former Yugoslavia (.yu), as an extreme case of Web historiography where the primary source for analysis can no longer be found on the live Web.
Please contact the author for further information.
What does the Web remember of its deleted past? An archival reconstruction of the Yugoslav Internet domain
1. What does the Web remember of its deleted past?
An archival reconstruction of the Yugoslav Internet Domain
Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
2. Web historiography taken to the extreme
Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
Facts:
• The domain was completely removed from the live Web
• The Internet Archive is accessed using URLs
Problem:
• The archived snapshots of the .yu domain cannot be
retrieved from the Internet Archive if the Web does not
contain any URL of the domain
Question:
• Could the Web be used as a primary source for telling its
own history?
3. Argument
Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
The live Web inscribes sovereignty and stability into Web
archives, thereby constituting and limiting national Web
histories:
a) The DNS re-enforces the UN list of recognised countries
and territories. New countries are added, while
dissolved countries are removed.
b) The Wayback Machine assumes temporal proximity with
the live Web.
4. The formal history of the .yu ccTLD
Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
.yu domain delegated, maintained in Ljubljana
Breakup of Yugoslavia
Slovenia and Croatia declare independence
Croatian War
Sarajevo Siege
Bosnian War
5. The formal history of the .yu ccTLD
Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
UN sanctions - .yu domain excluded from the academic network
ICANN delegates new domains to Slovenia, Macedonia, Croatia
ICANN re-assigns the .yu domain to Belgrade
Breakup of Yugoslavia
Nato Sanctions
International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia established
Serbia and Montenegro form FRY
Croatian War
Sarajevo Siege
Bosnian War
6. The formal history of the .yu ccTLD
Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Dayton Agreement Signed
.yu domain maintained by Belgrade
University on a voluntary basis.
Registration is free, one Website per
institution
ICANN delegates a new domain to Bosnia
(Internet Archive Established)
Croatian War
Sarajevo Siege
Srebrenica Massacre
Bosnian War
7. The formal history of the .yu ccTLD
Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
Kosovo War
.yu domain maintained by Belgrade
University on a voluntary basis.
Registration is free, one Website per
institution.
“First Internet War”
f
EU freezes funds for FRY
Overthrow of Milosevic
8. The formal history of the .yu ccTLD
Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Milosevic arrested
EC economic sanctions on FRY
Serbia and Montenegro form a Union State
With lack of
governmental
support -
domain
stagnated
ISO decides to keep the YU suffix for
Serbia and Montenegro until a new
suffix is found
9. The formal history of the .yu ccTLD
Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Domain reform discussions
begin. ICANN delegates .yu
to RNIDS, until separate
ccTLD are delegated to
Serbia and Montenegro
Milosevic found dead in his cell
Serbia and Montenegro split
10. The formal history of the .yu ccTLD
Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
.rs and .me delegated.
Transitional period begins
Kosovo unilaterally declares independence from Serbia
11. The formal history of the .yu ccTLD
Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
.Yu deleted from the
Internet’s Root Zone
12. The archival reconstruction of the .yu domain
Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
13. The archival reconstruction of the .yu domain
What’s in a list? (appraisal of sources)
Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
Google
An index of .yu URLs on the last day of the domain
(scraping search results)
- 4761 unique URLs, 2010
Wikimedia project
A list of all .yu URLs referenced from pages of the Wikimedia project
- 3441 unique URLs, 2009
EUNET
A list of .yu URLs registered by the Serbian ISP
- 3441 unique URLs, 2010
PC Press (Magazine)
An annual list of the most popular .yu websites, curated and ranked by the computer magazine,
reconstructed from the Internet Archive
- 3441 unique URLs, 1997-2008
Total .yu URLs in all lists: 10333. Unique hosts after deduplication: 4867
14. The archival reconstruction of the .yu domain
Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
15. Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
PC Press - Top 5 suffixes
Com - 68
Co.yu - 55
Rs - 25
Org - 13
Net - 13
!
!
EUNET - Top 5 suffixes
Co.yu - 281
Org.yu - 23
Ac.yu - 21
Cg.yu - 7
Edu.yu - 2
!
!
Wikipedia - Top 5 suffixes
Co.yu - 1037
Org.yu - 789
Cg.yu - 185
Ac.yu - 155
Edu.yu - 125
!
!
Google - Top 5 suffixes
Co.yu - 605
Org.yu - 165
Edu.yu - 56
Ac.yu - 49
Gov.yu - 28
!
!
16. Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
17. Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
18. Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
19. Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
20. Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
21. Conclusions
Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
The evolution of the network cannot be explained without secondary sources
Reconstruction of a considerable, yet partial, portion of the deleted domain (53%)
Source lists generate different Web spaces and histories, Wikipedia stands out
as a robust primary source for archival reconstruction
Archival coverage greatly depends on the freshness of sources
The contours of the domain are shaped by national borders, consolidated after
sovereignty.
The Web privileges histories of sovereign states,
overwrites their unstable pasts
22. Thank you
Anat Ben-David, The Open University of Israel
Presented at the RESAW conference: Web Archives as Scholarly Sources: Issues, Practices and Perspectives.
Aarhus, Denmark, June 8-10 2015
YU
!
@anatbd
Special thanks to RA Adam Amram, and to Nikola Smolenski, Ivan Manojlovic and Martin Klein