Archiving the Adventist Web

In the fall of 2006 an exciting new project was launched at the Center. The rapid proliferation of Adventist related Internet resources has led us to begin archiving the Adventist Web. The Website Archive project creates an electronic duplicate of Internet sites that are operated by entities and organizations in the Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. We also include as many other Adventist related organizations as possible regardless of their orientation. While difficult to fully identify, we are also attempting to preserve copies of selected forums and blogs.

Since the rise of the Adventist Internet in the early 1990s the Center for Adventist Research has selectively printed paper copies of Adventist-related Internet resources. Now, an electronic archive will enhance access and be more comprehensive. The web’s dynamic nature means that websites will need to be archived repeatedly. We envision that in future years researchers will use our Adventist Website Archive as a primary source for finding Adventist online information and discussions from the past.

The Center will download the selected Internet sites once a year. More active sites and blogs will be copied more frequently. There are certain challenges with a project of this nature. We have discovered that forums are particularly difficult to archive. Some sites have limited bandwidth. We have been guilty on rare occasions of slowing down some servers.

A special thanks to our friends who have provided partial funding to launch this project and particularly Robert Johnston, Seminary professor emeritus, who first suggested the idea at our annual friend’s dinner.

We could not have done this without your help